The World We Live In
by AmandaBuckle
Summary: Kara Stronghold has lived in the Boston Quarantine Zone her entire life, and she knows what it means to survive. She'd gotten used to the routine of her life, but when a girl named Ellie comes into the picture, her life will be changed forever, both in love and adventure. The story follows the plot of "The Last of Us" with Kara as an OC. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1: The Way Things Are

_Chapter 1: The Way Things Are_

**_Summer_**

The sun was up, but you could barely tell. It peaked through the wooden planks that barred the windows, and allowed for stripes of light to penetrate the apartment, but that was the only light we had. Electricity wasn't exactly a priority these days.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a good night sleep, and the rays of light burned my eyes slightly as I sat at the kitchen table, rubbing my face with my hands. When my vision cleared, I looked around for something to do. Joel was still asleep, and nothing would be going on until he woke up. That was a rule.

The apartment had seen better days. I could see the appeal it must've had all those years ago. Sometimes I wondered about the people who might've lived here, but I didn't think on it too long. They were all probably dead. The place hadn't had a deep cleaning in years, and it definitely wasn't going to get done with Joel living in it. Boxes filled with junk lined the walls, and stray bottles and cans scattered the floor, which had many years of dirt ground deep into it. The apartment was what was known as a floor plan before the Infection. The front door opened up to the living room, which only consisted of a couch and a broken television, directly to the right, with the kitchen set up against the far wall in front of the door. The table I sat at was beside the abandoned kitchen, and the room to Joel's room was also on the far wall beside the kitchen. There was only one bedroom in the apartment, so I'd used the couch as a bed last night. My aunt had asked me to keep an eye on Joel, so that's what I did.

Suddenly I got an idea of how to pass the time. I hopped up from my chair, and went into the kitchen, looking in all the nearly empty cabinets until I found what I was looking for in one of the ones under the sink. I grabbed one of the brown bottles of beer, and walked back over to the table, and sat back down, twisting off the bottle cap with ease. In this world, you needed a certain set of skills in order to survive, and I was pretty sure that twisting off the caps of alcohol bottles was a necessity. I took a swig of the bitter liquid, which tasted pretty okay despite being in the heat for so long. Air conditioning was a rare thing to come by, and it didn't help that it was Summer. I was sweating my ass off.

I took another swig of beer, and read the label on the bottle, _Bud Lite_. As I was reading, the door to Joel's room opened, and out he came. Joel was maybe in his early 50's, but he looked like he'd gone through Hell. His face was rough from scars and aging, and his dark hair hair, which went down his face into a mustache and bears was beginning to grey. His clothes, like everyone else's, were faded and caked with dirt, though they may have been nice at some point. Individuality didn't matter much; practicality was the most important thing. He was well over six feet, and his mouth always made a thin line. To top it off, he was mostly a man of few words.

"Mornin,' Joel," I said, taking a drink.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" he asked when he saw me, not offering so much as a 'good morning' in return, his Texas accent mingling with a voice rough and deep with age.

"Tess told me to watch you. So I am."

"Is that so?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his hands, then looking up at me again.

"What the hell are you drinkin'?" he asked when he saw the bottle in my hand.

"Beer," I answered. "I never took you for a Lite man."

"Give me that," he said, taking hold of the bottle, and jerking it out of my hands.

"Hey!" I whined, "what the fuck?" I stood up to try and get the bottle back.

"You are _way _too young to be drinking," he said.

"I'm fifteen fucking years old, Joel, not that it makes a goddamn difference. I'm capable of handling a gun, I think I can handle a beer."

Joel looked at me, then at the bottle, then back at me, contemplating. Eventually, he sighed, and handed me the bottle. I sat back down in my seat, swigging, and Joel sat beside me. As he watched me, he finally asked, "don't you think it's a little early for it?"

"I'm surprised you could even tell with that watch of yours," I was referring to the watch Joel never took off. It was broken, and it'd been that way a long time. I once asked him why he wore it when it was broken, but he didn't want to talk about it. I didn't pester him about it, so he let me make the occasional joke. It was true, though. Time had never meant much to me. All I knew was night and day; when the sun went down, and when it came up. Telling time didn't make any sense to me.

"Fair enough," Joel answered, the smallest hint of a smile crossing his lips. "You know Tess is gonna kill you."

"I'll handle it," I said, taking another swig. "You know you talk in your sleep?"

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Yeah, you were jammering away all night. I couldn't really make out anything, but you definitely had things to say. You might wanna work on that."

"…I'll try."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door. "Here we fucking go," I said, knowing damn well who was on the other side of the door.

Joel got up and opened the front door for Tess, my aunt, who walked through the door on purpose. Like Joel, she looked like she'd been through Hell as well. The top portion of her medium brown hair was tied back, and she wore a bandana to keep her bangs out of her face. Among the dirt on her face, I noticed she had a fresh scratch on her cheek, and like Joel's, her mouth always made a hard line, but unlike Joel, she always had words to say.

"The fuck happened to you?" I called to her. "You look busted."

"Yeah, well, I feel busted," she said, leaning against the table next to me.

"What the hell is that?" she asked, referring to the beer bottle.

"Beer."

"Why are you drinking it?"

"I was thirsty."

"Kara…" she started to say something, but she stopped. "You know what, I don't give a fuck. Probably about time you started learning how to handle your alcohol anyway."

"See, Joel, I told you I could handle it," I said.

"You got lucky," he said to me, standing in the opening to the kitchen.

Tess held her hand out to the bottle in my hand, and I gave it to her. She took a long drink of it, then said, "So I got some news for you."

"Where were you, Tess?" he asked, his tone angry. She froze for a moment, then answered, "West End District" before handing me the bottle again. I knew the two of them would probably fight, so I started to take quicker drinks of the beer, in the hopes that the buzz would hit me soon so I wouldn't have to listen.

"We had a drop to make," Tess finished.

"_We_," Joel said, walking over to the table with a rag in his hand, "_we _had a drop to make." He handed her the rag, and she said, "well, you wanted to be left alone, remember?"

"Then why'd you ask Kara to babysit me?"

"She needed sleep."

"Bullshit, Tess," I raised my voice, "I've been to dozens of drops. I could've gone with you. Besides I didn't get much sleep anyway."

"But you still got _some_," she answered, dabbing the scratch on her cheek with the cloth. "That's good enough for me."

She and Joel exchanged looks of irritation; not directed at me, but at each other. It was as if they'd gotten into a fight the night before, and knowing them, they probably had. Joel walked back toward the kitchen, saying, "so, let me take a guess. The whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills. Is that about right?" Even in this world, there were other forms of currency, but here in Boston, pills were one of the few ones that mattered. Working on the Black Market was how we survived. It meant we came into contact with dangerous people, and we had to skirt around the law, not that it had any kind of weight to begin with. "We gotta do what it takes to survive," Tess would always tell me, "if that means doing illegal shit, then that's what we'll do." When I'd ask her why, she'd just shrug and say, "just the way things are."

Tess laughed at Joel's theory, "deal went off without a hitch. We have enough ration cards to last us a couple of months – easy." She stood up, took out small grey cards from her pocket, and threw them on the table. Ration cards were how we got food; how we _legally _got food. They, too, were one of the few methods of currency that mattered.

"You wanna explain this?" Joel asked, motioning to his face in the same area where the scratch was on her face.

Tess shook her head, "I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?"

"Holy fuck," I sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She dabbed her cheek with the cloth again, and Joel walked closer to her as she spoke. "They got in a few good hits, but…" she saw Joel put his hands on his hips, and begin to pace. "Look, I managed."

Joel sighed, "gimme that," and took the rag out of her hand. He took the beer bottle from me, and wet one of the edges of the rag with some beer before dabbing at Tess's cheek. "are these assholes still with us?"

"That's funny," Tess answered, winching at the sting of alcohol on her scratch. Tess was certainly not a weakling. She was an expert with a gun, and she could easily handle herself in a fist fight. She knew what it was like to live in the world before the Infection; she adapted well to the new world.

"Did you at least find out who they were?" Joel asked as Tess took hold of his arm and jerked it away from her face.

"Yeah, look," Tess said. "They were a couple of nobodies. They don't matter. What matters is that Robert fucking sent them."

Joel and I both looked at her in disbelief. "Fuck me," I said under my breath as I put down the beer bottle, and rubbed my face.

"Our Robert?" Joel asked.

Tess nodded, "he knows that we're after him."

Joel walked back into the kitchen with the rag, and I downed a good majority of the beer in the bottle. I could feel a buzz starting to kick in.

"He figures that he's gonna get us first," Tess finished.

"That son of a bitch, he's smart," Joel threw the rag onto the counter, and placed his hand on his chin in thought. I stood up from the table and went over to the counter where Joel was standing. Tess followed.

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked generally to either one of them.

"He's not smart enough," she said confidently. "I know where he's hiding." A vengeful smile crossed her face.

"No fucking way," I said in disbelief.

"_Yes _fucking way."

"Like Hell you do, Tess," Joel gave her a stern look, crossing his arms.

"Old warehouse in Area 5," she answered smugly, walking over to the one window in the room that had shades instead of wooden boards. "Can't say for how long, though." She concluded.

"Well, I'm ready now," Joel said.

"Me too," I said.

"Yeah, I can do now," Tess said, as the three of us started to head out the door.

"Wait," I called right before I left the apartment, quickly going back to grab my pistol off the couch, and putting it in the back of my pants.


	2. Chapter 2: Area 4

_Chapter 2: Area 4_

We walked out of the apartment building and out onto the streets of Boston. The city itself was such a gutted wretch of a city. The streets were cracked, and grass was starting to sprout in the places that weren't littered with dumpsters and trash bags. Barely anyone walked the streets. Windows in most of the buildings were either broken or ripped off completely. Soldiers stood on the roofs, armed with machine guns, looking down at the people below. They were protecting us, or so we were told.

"The checkpoint's still open," Tess said.

"Only a few hours until curfew," Joel responded.

"We better hurry up then."

We rarely walked in the city. It was always a jog or a run. We always needed to be somewhere quickly, or we needed to get _out _of somewhere quickly. In addition, walking around wasn't safe; people can't hurt you if they can't catch you. However, this time, we actually walked through the allies and back roads. My buzz was in full force, and it kept my head in the clouds for the most part. I liked the feeling; it didn't allow me to think about things.

"Are you serious?" Joel asked Tess, continuing on with a conversation they were having. Sometimes I just listened to them like this. Sometimes, it was easier to just stay silent.

"Got served the damn papers this morning," Tess answered as we walked. "I've been selected for outside work duty."

"That's bullshit," I said, breaking my silence.

"Yeah, soldiers are supposed to handle the outside," Joel agreed.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell them that," Tess said.

As we walked, I began to look at the walls of buildings, all the graffiti marks on the signs. They said things like "free" and "hope," but I doubted anyone had hope anymore. Clothes hung from wires over the streets, and the stores were cleaned out and abandoned. I didn't think about what life must've been like here over 20 years ago before things went to shit. It was just too goddamn depressing.

As we came to one of the busier streets in or area, Area 4, police officers armed with machine guns began to dot the sidewalks, and the random military van would drive along the road. Those were the only cars that ever were around. Speakers ran along the sides of the buildings, and every few minutes, a recording of a woman's voice would come out of them. **Attention: Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory.**

Across from us, on the other side of the road, was the Rations Distribution Center. There was barbed wire surrounding it, and it had an armed guard. Its doors were all closed.

"Look at that," Tess said, looking at it. "Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again."

"That shouldn't happen," I said. It was sad to say, but things like this were the reason why so many people turned to things like the Black Market. They couldn't afford to survive any other way. Tess and Joel never would tell me how they got started in all this, but I'm sure that hunger had something to do with it.

"No, it shouldn't, but people don't always play by the rules," Tess said.

"We do," I said jokingly.

"The epitome of citizenship – that's us." As far as family went, Tess was pretty cool about most things. I'd often seen parents trying to scold their kids into submission, telling them what they could and couldn't do. Tess was never that way with me. She told me what to do only when it came to survival, and even then, she let me go about it my own way. We acted more like friends than anything, but I loved her more than anyone else, and I knew she loved me, though she'd never say it outright.

Police officers weren't afraid to man handle people, and they were showing their brute force in random areas as we walked toward the Area 5 checkpoint. People were being forced to get on the ground at gunpoint, and many of them were being searched.

"Seems like more people are getting infected," Tess said.

"That just means more people are sneaking out," Joel said.

"Good, about time they realized they can't control the masses entirely," I said. I'd always had a problem with the way the military handled things, and I wasn't afraid to voice my opinion.

"Keep your voice down, Kara. You can get shot for saying shit like that," Tess warned me as she stopped and grabbed my arm.

"Doesn't make me any less right," I said.

"I know," she replied, letting go of my arm, and changing the subject to avoid suspicion, "I really wish you'd let me cut your hair."

My hair was light blonde, and it fell to my waist in a thick, straight mass. Tess's own hair was cut to her shoulders, and she always felt it was more practical that way. She'd been trying to get me to cut mine for years, but I never let her.

"I like my hair the way it is, Tess," I said. "Don't you come near it."

We started walking again, "Yeah? What would you do if I cut it in your sleep?"

"I'd shoot you."

Tess laughed, "I have no doubt in my mind." She always took me seriously, which was something I admired in her.

"You could at least tie it back," Joel suggested.

"I like it down," I said. "Makes me feel free."

"…okay."

As we approached the checkpoint, which was mainly a series of barbwire fencing with soldiers posted, Tess said, "I got us all new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there. Just play it cool." I made a mental note to stay quiet. Because I was young, if I were to say something, they would get suspicious of us.

We came up to the checkpoint meant for civilians, and the armed guard asked for our IDs. Tess gave him a few papers, and as he looked them over, he asked us, "what's your business here?"

"Got the day off," Joel said without hesitation. "Visiting some friends."

"Alright," the guard said, handing Joel the papers. "Move on through.

"Thanks," Joel said.

The soldier started to move out of the way so we could go passed him, but a military vehicle that sat past the checkpoint suddenly blew up. We all docked and covered our heads when it exploded. "Jesus," Tess said. The gates to the checkpoint were immediately closed, and the soldier screamed at us to get out of there, shooting into the fire of the vehicle. "Fireflies!" another solider screamed.

We'd had many run-ins with the Fireflies before. They were people who didn't like how the government was handling the Infection, and they wanted the masses to rise with them. They were doing a pretty good job, but then they were recently starting to be picked off. We didn't like or dislike them; most of the time we just stayed out of each other's way.

"C'mon," Tess said, jerking my arm. "Let's get out of here." We all started running away from the checkpoint, and out of the line of bullets that the soldiers were shooting.

**Attention: Checkpoint 5 is now closed until further notice. All civilians must clear the surrounding area immediately.**

The speakers repeated the saying, and an alarm screeched. The streets were clear almost immediately of civilians and soldiers alike. We came to a building that was just a block away from the checkpoint, and Tess stood by the front door. "I think the coast is clear," she said. "C'mon." We followed her into the building. I couldn't remember the last time we went in here during the day. It may have been a business office at one point, but now it was used as a kind of tunnel for the Black Market to get between the different areas of the city. The military didn't know about it, which is why we only came through here at night mostly.

Once we were inside, we paused for a moment. "Goddamn Fireflies," I said. "It was so fucking perfect too."

"So much for the easy route," Tess added. She threw a roll of bandages at Joel, "patch yourself up, alright?"

Joel wrapped the bandages around his arm a few times before ripping it off with his teeth. He must've had a cut there. Bandages and bottles of alcohol were what we mainly used for the small things like scratches, but for things like a gunshot wound, you are pretty much gone. Tess had told me that before the Infection, things like that weren't a big deal. They certainly were now.

When Joel was finished, we started making our way through the building into the parts we used as tunnels. "They're gonna close all the checkpoints. We're gonna have to go around," Tess said.

"Fucking brilliant," I said under my breath, sarcasm seeping into my words. This was why I hated the military. They always had to make things more difficult on everyone but themselves.

"Outside the wall?" Joel asked her.

"Or we could just let Robert go," Tess suggested sarcastically.

"Cute," a brief chuckle escaped Joel's lips.

The tunnels themselves were hallways that looked like they belonged in a school or something. The floors were covered in linoleum that were cracked in some places, and missing tiles in others. The wallpaper was chipping off the walls, and almost every door we passed had a government lock on it. The halls were lit by flimsy lights attached to ceiling fans. This building got electricity, but it was always touch and go. Today was a good day.

As we continued through the tunnels, we came across a man sitting against the wall that we knew. He was one of our guys, but I couldn't remember his name. He stood when he saw us, "hey, did you see that shit?"

"We were there," Tess told him, and he continued to walk with us, beside her. Joel hung back from them, and I followed his lead. I rarely ever spoke to the guys personally. Tess and Joel handled them mostly. "How is the East tunnel looking?" Tess asked.

"It's clear. I just used it. No patrols," he man told her. "Where are you off to?"

"We're going to pay Robert a visit."

"You too?"

"Who else is looking for him?"

"Uh, Marlene," the guy said. "She's been asking around, trying to find him." That surprised me a little. What could the leader of the Fireflies possibly want with a scumbag like Robert?

"What do the Fireflies need with Robert?" Tess asked, thinking the same thing I was.

"You think she'd tell me?"

"Well, what did you tell her?" Tess's tone grew more accusing.

"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding."

"Good man," Tess said. "Hey, you stay out of trouble, alright? Military's gonna be out in force soon"

"Yeah, see you around," the man said before leaning against the wall again.

When we were past him, Tess said, "Marlene looking for Robert? What do you make of that?" she was asking Joel, but I answered first. "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

"I agree," Joel said. "I don't like it. We better find him before the Fireflies do."

We eventually came out of the hallway into a room that looked kind of like a living room. The walls were lined with windows, and it was weird to me that they weren't boarded up. A man sat on the couch in the room, and we walked up to him.

"Hey guys," he said. "How's it going?"

"Shit's stirring up out there," Tess told him. "How we looking over here?"

"It's been quiet," he told her. "No sign of military or infected."

"That's what I like to hear," Tess said before walking over to a shelf against one of the walls that acted as a TV stand. She went over to one side of it, and motioned to Joel, "can you give me a hand with this?" Joel went on the other side of the shelf, and pulled while Tess pushed. When they moved it a few feet, the large, gaping hole in the wall behind it was covering was revealed. I looked into the hole, and discovered that it opened up into a square-shaped room with a bottom that dropped down so far that you couldn't see it.

"Y'all be careful out there," the man called to us as we went through the hole, and jumped into the back bottom.


	3. Chapter 3: Spores

_Chapter 3: Spores_

When I landed on the floor, I realized that we were in some kind of basement. The floor was concrete, and wooden planks and panels were all over the place.

"Ugh! God, this place fucking reeks," I said when I regained my balance after wobbling on my feet a little.

"No kidding," Tess said, leading us into the dark. "They need to watch what they throw away down here."

"Great. We're walking through a giant dumpster. That's fantastic," I plugged my nose, and followed closely behind her.

"Let there be light," Tess said as she found a light switch, and flipped it on. A generator in a corner roared to life, and light came from light bulbs at certain spots around the maze of walls. There were random shelves of supplies against the walls, but not much else. As we went deeper into the basement, things started to change. In certain areas, the floor turned to dirt, and the brick on the wall was replaced with huge stones and more dirt. The light bulbs in the ceiling flashed and spit angrily, and large pipes lined the floor, so you had to climb over them.

"Let's grab our gear," Tess said to us as we reached a room full of tables and supplies. "Our backpacks are still here from last time." She picked up a backpack from one of the tables, and a revolver that was situated next to it.

"Here," she said, offering the gun to me. "I picked this up yesterday. It's better than that pistol. Full of bullets too."

I took the gun from her, gladly, "thanks, Tess." I put the revolver on the table, and picked up my own backpack, placing my pistol inside it once I switched on the safety. I slung the pack over my shoulder, and placed the revolver into the back of my pants.

"A beer _and _a gun?" Joel said to me. "Must be your lucky day."

"She deserves it," Tess said before I could say anything. Tess would never openly tell me she was proud of me; that wasn't the kind of persons she was. However, whenever she said that phrase, _she deserves it_, I knew what she really meant.

"I don't have a lot of ammo," Joel said as he checked his own gun.

"Then make your shots count," Tess advised him.

When we all had our gear, we walked over to one of the walls in the room that had a higher ceiling than any other part of the room. It had wood paneling leading up to a large hole that we used as an exit. The exit was too high up for us to reach on our own, so we had to help each other. "Hey Texas," Tess said to Joel, "boost me up." Joel walked over to the side of the wall, bent his knees, and cupped his hands. Tess placed one of her feet into his hands, and he hoisted her up until she was able to climb into the hole.

"C'mon, Kara. You too," Joel said, going back to his previous position. He hoisted me up with ease, and Tess and I both used out arms to pull him up.

The hole lead to another short tunnel with a low ceiling. It dead ended, but the ceiling at the far end was open with a large panel of wood covering it. We helped each other lift up the wooden panel, and crawl out of the tunnel. We were at ground level now, in an abandoned restaurant. The walls were missing in several places, as well as the windows. The doors were all open. This was how most buildings were. Sad and vacant.

"Be careful," Joel advised no one in particular as we left the restaurant and walked onto what was a street some time ago. Now, it was mostly a meadow, with abandoned cars and buildings surrounding it. Vines and flowers grew up the sides of walls, and roofs were completely gone off of some of them.

"When am I not?" Tess asked him.

"We haven't been out here in a while," Joel said. We were outside of Area 4 now, but not quite in Area 5. We were in the outside.

"It's like we're on a date," Tess teased.

"Well, I am the romantic type."

"You've got your ways."

"Fucking gag me," I said to them. "If you two start that lovey-dovey crap, I'm outta here." They just laughed.

To get into Area 5, we had to get a ladder, and climb into another building. It may've been an apartment building or even a hotel at one point, but the only thing left was empty beds. We came in on one of the top floors, so we had to make out way downstairs. There wasn't any electricity, so we had to turn on the flashlights we had attacked to our backpacks in order to see. We also knew that places like these always had spare supplies lying around, so as we continued through the building, we were always on the lookout. For some reason, I was always good at noticing spare bullets. Tess and Joel relied on me for that. They weren't very observant when it came to those little details. As we made our way, Tess asked, "do you think Robert still has our guns?"

"For his sake, he better," Joel said. When it came to merchandise, we took things very seriously. Those guns could mean the difference between having food and starving to death. This was no game.

"Look, once we get our merchandise back, it should be easy to unload," I said.

"Speaking of which, when's that next shipment due, Tess?" Joel asked.

"Well, we're meeting Bill next month," she answered. "More pills, lots of ammo – supposedly."

"I hate that son of a bitch," I said. Bill was one of our suppliers. He was nice enough to Joel and Tess, but to me, he was a complete douche bag. Most of the time, it was an effort for me not to just punch him in the face. Sometimes I did actually punch him in the face.

"He's not too keen on you either," Joel said to me.

"Bill doesn't like anyone," Tess added. "Don't take it personally, Kara." As if that made it better.

We made a sharp turn down a hallway, and Tess said suddenly, "hold up! Spores." We quickly took our gas masks out of our bags and put them on. Spores carried the Infection, and made the disease airborne. The masks kept us safe from them, but the spores definitely weren't the worst thing that could happen to you.

With the masks on, we continued. I could see the spores in the air, and the large heaps of fungus on the floor.

"Where the hell are they all coming from?" Joel asked. "This place was clear last time."

"They're coming out of somethin'," Tess said. "Stay alert."

Eventually, we came to an abnormally large amount of fungus, and attached to it was a body of a man. Sprouts were growing out of his head, and his skin was white as ash.

"I think we found our culprit," I said, shining my flashlight on the body. He was lucky. The Infection killed him before he was too far gone.

"Body's not that old," Tess observed. "Better keep our eyes and ears open."

I walked past the body carefully, not wanting to linger on it too long. There was a doorway on the wall next to the body. It seemed wide enough for us to fit, but there was a plank of wood blocking it.

"We should be able to fit through here," Joel said, as if reading my mind. He reached for the plank, and jerked it out of position. Immediately after he did, a small section of the ceiling above us came crashing down. He dropped the plank, and covered his head until he was sure that no more sections of the ceiling were going to collapse.

"You okay?" Tess called to him.

"Yeah," he answered. "Damn ceiling's falling apart. Be careful."

We went through the opening, and were about to continue on when we heard a kind of coughing on the floor. A man was pinned underneath what looked like a filing cabinet; his gas mask was broken. Infected. Joel immediately pulled Tess and I out of the way of any attack it might do, then tried to follow us, but the man said, "help me." He was definitely infected, but he was still with is. We stopped in our tracks and watched him.

"Don't leave me to turn," he begged. "Please."

"What do you wanna do?" Tess asked him. He took a few steps toward the body, drew his gun, and shot him in the head. Blood pooled around the man in seconds.

"Poor bastard," I said.

"Let's go," Tess said, and we followed. I couldn't remember how far down this building went, and it seemed like we were going on forever, when we heard moaning up ahead.

"You hear that?" Tess asked.

"Shh," Joel told us, as we crouched on either side of an entryway where the noise was coming from. Over the years, we'd trained our hearing to be able to detect both infected and people from long distances away, as well as the difference between the two. I placed my ear against the wall, and listened carefully. I could make out a few infected; some were attacking someone, while others just ran around aimlessly. Runners. There were four distinct kind of infected a person could be. Runners were the least dangerous, as well as the youngest kind. The longer someone was infected, the worse they became.

"How you wanna handle it?" Tess quietly asked Joel as she drew her gun. I followed her lead, holding my revolver in both hands, waiting for Joel's signal.

"Wait here," he told us, creeping forward quietly. In the dark, I could barely make out a runner standing about ten feet in front of the doorway. It was once a man, his veins popped out in purple lines, and his clothes were still intact. It didn't move; it just stood there and moaned. It didn't hear Joel as he crept up behind it, grabbed its neck, and twisted his head with a swift jerk. Although they were physically the easiest to kill, they were also the hardest for me because they still looked like the people they once were. To Joel, that wasn't the case. To him, they were all the same.

"C'mon," Joel motioned for us, and we crept quietly inside. Sound attracted them, and they had incredible hearing. If possible, twisting their necks or strangling them was the best method since it was the quietest. Gunshots quickly sent them into a frenzy.

We walked through the rooms until we came across the other Runners that I heard. They were leaned over a body, eating the flesh like it was their last meal. That was the thing about them; they ate people. Still, getting eaten wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you. You'd die. Just getting bitten by one of them was another story. Just like with spores, you'd lose your mind slowly, and you'd eventually become one of the infected. However, if you got bit by one, you lose your mind with pain. When pain is involved, you lose your mind a lot quicker, and you become worse much faster. To me, that was the worst thing that could happen to a person.

"Jesus," Joel said when he saw them over the body. Big mistake. They heard him, looking up at us quickly, and charging with a laud screech. One reached Joel, and he began to punch at it with bloody fists. The other came at Tess and me, but it flung itself on her, knocking her off balance. I quickly aimed the revolver, and shot it in the back of the head three times. Three times was the magic number for killing Runners. Its head exploded, and Tess shoved it aside with a grunt.

"Thanks," she said, standing up, and wiping the blood off of her gas mask.

"You got some Runner brain on you there," I said jokingly.

"Good. I thought this outfit needed a little something."

We looked over to Joel, who had easily overpowered the Runner that was now lying dead on the ground. "Alright, that's all of them," Tess said.

"Let's hope so," Joel said.

"Let's head back into the city."

We went through the rest of the building without any more problems. When we finally reached the outside, with its grassy meadows and large middles of green water, I gladly pulled off my gas mask. "Ahh, fresh air," I said.

"That's the one thing I love about the outside," Tess said as we began to job with her leading the way. "I fucking hate the smell of the city."

"Why don't you ask Bill to get you some of them air fresheners?" Joel asked her

Tess chuckled, "hey, if they weren't expired, that'd be a good idea."

We made our way back into the city by going through a few more buildings that were all partially collapsed and faded with the elements. When we finally made it to Area 5, Joel warned, "let's make sure there aren't any soldiers around."

I went ahead of them a little ways, checking to see if there was any movement from anywhere. There wasn't.

"It's clear," I called. "Let's move."

They followed me, and we went through another building that led to a camp for our kind of people. When we finished going through the building, however, we reached a closed door. Tess walked up, and knocked on it a few times. A few seconds later, a small boy opened it just enough so we could see his face. "Hey, little man," Tess said to him. She pulled out a few ration cards from her pocket and handed them to him. "Make sure the coast is clear?" The boy nodded, and reached up to grab the cards, but she pulled them away at the last second. "No soldiers," she added. "And none of Robert's men. Yeah?" The boy nodded, took the ration cards, and closed the door.

Tess sighed and crossed her arms.

"You know he's expecting us," Joel said.

"Well, that'll make it more interesting," she said. Robert always gave us minor issues here and there, but trying to kill Tess had crossed the line, especially with me. This wasn't going to be just a visit. We aimed to kill.

We waited for a few seconds until we heard a knock on the door from the boy. "Good to go," Tess said, opening the door, and we walked into the camp. The foliage of the outside turned into the concrete of the city. Shabby, make-shift tents were scattered around, with Black Market vendors selling their wares. Food was being made in large pots, and the lines for them were very long. Men were everywhere, and it seemed like they all wanted to kiss Tess's ass.

One man came up to her and said, "hey Tess." He then turned to me and said, "how you doin,' pretty lady?" Back to Tess, he said, "I heard you got some merchandise."

"Not now, Terrance," Tess said sternly.

"No no, it's good. I got the card-"

"Not…now. You hear me?" she put her finger in his face.

"Okay," he said, backing off. "I can do that. Don't get all huffy-puffy about it."

We continued into the camp Joel had never been here before, but I'd been here plenty of times with both Tess and with my mom when I was younger. Still, it'd been awhile for me. As we walked, more men began to talk to us again. One in particular said, "Tess. Kara. It's been awhile. You don't visit us anymore." He had a girl sitting on his lap.

"Who the hell is that?" Tess asked.

"None of your goddamn business."

Joel continued walking as she was having a moment, so I followed him. I didn't want to get in the way if fists started to fly. We passed all kinds of people; some sitting around, others play fighting. It was a lively place, but not one I'd want to hang around for too long. Some of these people couldn't be trusted. We were almost out of the camp when another man stood up, and tried to stop us from going any further.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" He asked us, standing in our way.

I recognized him, "Malick!"

"Kara?" He asked, seeing me.

"The one and only."

"You look so…" he started to say, but Tess reappeared, and put him in his place.

"Malick, sit your ass back down," she said.

"Sorry, Tess. Didn't realize you all were together," he said before sitting back in his spot.

When we were out of earshot from him, Joel asked, "who the hell is _Malick_?"

"An old headache," Tess answered. "Don't ask."

On the outskirts of the camp, there was one man standing against the wall of a building, and Tess quickly went up to him.

"We're looking for Robert," she said quietly, holding up a few ration cards. "He come through here?"

"Half hour ago," he said, looking almost lustfully at the cards she held in her hand. "He went back to the wharf. He's there now."

Tess gave him the cards, and we headed to the wharf. "God," I said. "It's really been awhile since we've been there," I said.

"I know," Tess said.


	4. Chapter 4: Our Boy

_Chapter 4: Our Boy_

We came to a clearing with a few boxes and bags lying around, and we heard footsteps approaching.

"Here we go," Joel whispered as three large men came into view. Robert's goons.

"Let us through," Tess said to them.

"You guys need to turn around and head back if you know what's good for you," one answered.

"Our beef isn't with you," Tess said. "We just want Robert. You don't wanna do this"

"Turn the fuck around and leave now," the same goon said.

"I'm not going anywhere without Robert."

"Bitch," he drew a small pistol. "I will bash your skull unless you turn around and get your dumb ass outta here."

Tess paused for a moment, then said, "fuck this." She drew her gun quickly, and shot the man in the head. He collapsed with a large thud, and the two goons ran from us and hid behind some boxes opposite where we were standing. The three of us followed their lead, crouching behind some boxes that were stacked next to us. Tess had just begun a shoot out.

One of the goons called out, "I'm gonna fucking kill you," and we drew our guns.

"Maybe someday," I said to myself. "But definitely not today."

I rose to my feet, my revolver aimed at the boxes where the goons were hiding. As soon as I saw a body part, I fired. I ended up shooting one of them in the arm, giving Tess and Joel enough time to spread out, taking their own shots at the goons. They were both dead within a few minutes. None of us even had a scratch on us.

"You really are a hell of a shot, you know that?" Tess said as we reloaded our guns.

"I learned from the best," I said, snapping the cylinder back into place, keeping the gun in hand. I didn't know what we'd come across before we reached Robert, but knowing Robert, he would put several goons between him and us. Coward.

"How the hell did he get all these guys?" Joel asked, taking the bullets out of the pockets of one of the goons.

"If Robert's good at one thing, it's writing blank checks," Tess said.

We continued to the wharf, having to be hoisted over a fence, climb up a flight a stairs, then hop down to a lower level again to yet another area with scattered boxes. We heard footsteps again, but this time, we took cover behind the boxes, and peaked over the top so we could see who it was. I didn't want to start another shoot-off unless it was completely necessary. I wasn't as ruthless as Tess when it came to that kind of stuff.

"More of Robert's guys," Tess said, seeing two men approaching the area.

"Shit, I see 'em," Joel said

"How do you know they're coming," one of the men asked.

"Two of our men died trying to take Tess out," another answered. "I guarantee that she, Joel, and Kara are on their way here right now to get Robert."

"Jesus," the first one said. "We shouldn't have taken this job."

"Not our call. Let's spread out and make sure no one's creeping around in here." They began to walk around the area, away from us.

"Nice and easy, you two," Tess whispered, as she quickly but quietly went up to one of the men from behind and strangled him, lying him gently on the ground. The other man didn't even hear the commotion, and Joel and I snuck up on him. Joel grabbed him by the head, and lowered him down to my level so I could stab him in the throat with the pocket knife I had in my back pocket. We didn't have to say any words to each other; we just knew what were going to do. The three of us were a good team in that way.

Tess led us to the warehouse where Robert was supposed to be. We went through the different levels, finding supplies and killing goons as we went. It was common knowledge in our line of work that goons weren't important. Their lives didn't matter; it made no difference whether they lived or died. For our purposes, however, it was better that they were dead. When we reached one of the higher levels, we heard a few of them having a conversation, so we paused to listen.

"We consolidated the crates in the South warehouse," one said. "supplies are locked up."

"Good," the other said. "Let's do another once over and then head out. It's getting close to curfew."

"What about Robert?" a third man came out and said. "Who's he holing up with tonight? Guy's too paranoid to stay here by himself."

"Fuck if I know," said the first man. "We'll check in with the others and come up with something."

"Okay."

Joel grabbed a bottle that was nearby, and threw it in an area away from us so that the men would be distracted and go where it was. This made killing them easier. I almost felt bad about it sometimes. Almost. As we kept going up the levels of the warehouse, it became obvious that the number of goons posted on each level was increasing, making it harder to kill them quickly.

"We shoulda brought more people," Tess said.

"They'd just slow us down," Joel answered.

"Yeah," Tess said. "You're right."

"You doing okay, Kara?" Joel asked me randomly. We'd barely spoken to each other this entire time.

"Yeah," I answered. "Not a scratch on me."

"Of course she's okay, Texas," Tess said, smiling briefly at me before turning to him again. "Relax."

We came to a garage door that opened to the outside. Tess said, "the docks are this way."

"Let's do this shit," I said.

Joel helped us open the door, and once we were outside, I could smell the ocean immediately. Seagulls flew around above us, and the docks were basically nothing but dumpsters and buildings made out of rusted metal. We were standing on a platform, and it was as if the wharf was a vast kingdom below us, even though it was only about a five foot drop to it. The sun was setting, giving the entire place a reddish glow, while goons paced around the area endlessly. We crouched behind a broken off piece of what once was a concrete railing, and peeked over it to look for Robert.

Tess eventually pointed to the left, and said, "there's our boy."

I looked to where she was pointing. Three men stood standing in one spot, one of them being Robert. Although his face was rough from scarring, unlike Joel and Tess's rough demeanors, his was slightly calmer. His blond hair hung straight to just above his shoulders, and was tied back in a ponytail. His blue eyes drooped so that it looked like he was either tired or high off his ass. He finished talking to the men, then walked in the opposite direction of us.

"Pfft," Tess shook her head. "That cocky son of a bitch."

"Let's go wrap this up," Joel said, hopping over the railing onto the lower level, finding something to hide behind until it was time to strike at the goons. Tess and I followed close behind. As we waiting, I heard the whispers of the men.

"Shipment's been dry for a long time," one said.

"W we lost our contact in the North, lost our contact in the South. Shit, I don't know who's left out there," another said. I tried not to listen to them. Nothing they said mattered.

When the moment was right, we each separated from each other, making our way to the far end of the dock, where Robert headed. Trying to be as quiet as I could, and knowing that I wasn't strong enough to strangle one of the goons yet, I took to knifing them in the throat. They never even saw me coming. Stealth was one of my strong suits, along with sharp shooting.

I was the first one to reach the far end, where I was met with a door, leading into an old office building for the dock shipments. The others weren't far behind me, but I waited for them all the same.

Tess and I stood on either side of the door, our backs to the wall. Joel opened the door quickly, then ran to stand next to me. Bullets fired through the doorway, and I heard Robert's voice call out, "get back! Get the fuck back!"

"We just wanna talk, Robert," Tess called into the door, bullets still being fired.

"We ain't got fuckin' nothin' to talk about!"

"Put your gun down!" I called, peeking my head through the door, then pulling it back moments before a bullet hit where I'd had it.

"Go fuck yourself!" Robert called.

"He can't just make this easy, can he?" I asked. He obviously knew we wanted to kill him, and just as I thought he'd do, he started to stall time. We saw his gun fly through the door, and Tess screamed, "he's running!"

We rushed after him, screaming profanities at each other along the way.

"Robert!" Joel called after him.

"Screw yourself, Joel!"

He tried to slow us down by shutting the doors to the building as he went through them, but Joel bashed them in with his foot so we were never far behind him. We chased him through allies, where he through over trashcans that we just hopped over, and different buildings. We eventually caught him in an ally where he was expecting to go through gate, only it wouldn't open. He pulled at the fence desperately, while we each stood behind him. I crossed my arms.

"Hello, Robert," Tess said.

Defeated, he turned around to face us, "Tess. Joel. Kara." He began to walk toward us, "no hard feelings, right?"

"None at all," Tess said, picking up a pipe off the ground.

"Alright," Robert said before trying to run past Tess, who only knocked his legs out from under him with the pipe. He hit the ground with a thud, screaming, "Ah! Goddammit!" He didn't try to get up, and all our eyes were on him.

"That was a dumbass move, you know it?" I said, shaking my head.

Tess through the pipe on the ground again, "we missed you."

"Look," Robert said, "whatever it is you heard, it ain't true. Okay?"

"Yeah, like we fucking believe that shit," I said.

"I just wanna say–," he began.

"The guns," Tess interrupted. "You wanna tell us where the guns are?"

"Yeah, sure, but…," he panted. "It's complicated, alright?"

"Hmm," Tess looked toward Joel, who began to walk toward Robert.

"Look, alright, just hear me out on this. I gotta–," he tried to say as Joel kicked him in the face, knocking it against the ground. "Fuck."

Joel grabbed his right arm, and stretched it out so that he had a grip on both ends of it.

"Stop!" he begged. Joel paused.

"Quit your squirmin'," Tess said, as she squatted down, getting in his face, gun in hand.

I stood back. Joel and Tess normally liked to take care of these kind of things.

"Hey Kara, you want in on this?" Tess asked. She'd been letting me participate more and more as I got older. It still surprised me every time she asked, though.

"Don't mind if I do," I said, squatting down beside Tess, grazing my pocket knife gently along his neck. "I have no problem cutting your throat out if you don't cooperate." I took after Tess in the fact that I could be just as ruthless as she was even from the beginning of me coming with Joel and her on missions. Joel was often shocked at my actions, but Tess knew I had it in me. She said I had a spark.

Robert's eyes were tightly closed, blood splattered slightly on his face. He was breathing heavily as we spoke to him, no doubt afraid. Good.

"You were saying?" Tess asked him.

"I sold 'em," he said.

Tess looked up in disbelief, then back down at him, "excuse me?"

"I didn't have much of a choice. I owed someone."

"You owed us. I'd say you bet on the wrong horse."

"I just need more time," he begged. "Just…gimme a week."

"You know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me."

"C'mon, it wasn't like–…"

"Who has our guns?!" I demanded, digging my knife into his neck slightly, drawing a speck of blood. He was trying to drag out time, and I wasn't going to allow that.

"I can't," he said after a long pause. The three of us looked at each other. I took my knife off his neck, but Joel firmly grabbed his arm.

"Please, just gimme a couple of days–," he began as Joel broke his arm, pulling it toward the sky. Robert cried out in agony. Joel let go of him, and he rolled over on his good arm.

"Who. Has. Our. Guns?" Tess asked again.

He paused again before saying, "it's the Fireflies. I owed the Fireflies."

"What?" I asked, my knife aimed at him. How did someone even _begin _to owe the Fireflies? They weren't too keen on deals. Boy did he ever fuck himself. Even with the Fireflies on one end, we were still the worse of the two. The Fireflies didn't kill those of us who were on the same side. Us, on the other hand, we didn't discriminate.

"Look they're basically all dead. We can just…just go in there, finish 'em off. We get the guns. Whadaya say?" he began nodding excitedly.

We all looked at each other once more, and stood up.

"C'mon. Fuck those Fireflies," he said. "Let's go get 'em."

Tess humored him by looking at Joel and me, then simply said, "that is a stupid idea."

She then aimed her gun at him, and shot him twice in the head.


	5. Chapter 5: Cargo

_Chapter 5:Cargo_

"Well, that was a big fucking waste of time," I said, looking down at Robert's body.

"You're telling me," Tess replied.

"Now what?" Joel asked.

Tess shook her head, taking a few steps, "we go get our merchandise back."

"How?"

"I don't know. We explain it to them."

"The Fireflies aren't exactly accommodating," I added.

"Look," Tess said. "Let's go find a Firefly."

"You won't have to look very far," a voice said from the other side of the ally from where we were. A woman came around the corner of a building toward us. Her face was the most youthful I'd ever seen of an adult living in the city, but her black hair was beginning to grey where it was pulled back into a ponytail. She held her left hand over her right side, the darkness of her skin contrasting with the brightness of the blood of an injury; in her right hand, she held a gun. She walked with a tilt, as if to lessen the pain. We all knew who she was, and I was very surprised to see her.

"There you go," Joel said when he saw her. "Queen Firefly."

"Marlene," I nodded at her in greeting.

"Kara," she greeted back.

We didn't always get along with the Fireflies, but I had a soft spot for Marlene. She'd practically known me my entire life, and she was a good friend to my mom. Although Tess was the one who raised me for most of my life, Marlene always looked out for me when she saw me. I was fairly confident that she'd put herself in harm's way for me, and truth be told, I'd do the same for her. Tess and Joel had history of their own with her, so they were friendly enough.

"Why are you here?" Marlene asked no one in particular. She was surprised to see us on this part of town, just like everyone else we'd encountered.

"Business," Tess answered, looking Marlene over. "You don't look so hot."

Marlene looked down at her wound, then around us, searching, "where's Robert?"

Tess stepped to the side, motioning to Robert's dead body on the ground.

Marlene shook her head and chuckled, "I needed him alive."

"The guns he gave you," Tess said. "They weren't his to sell. I want them back."

"Doesn't work like that, Tess."

"The hell it doesn't," irritation showed in her voice.

"I paid for those guns," Marlene stepped closer to us. "You want 'em back? You're gonna have to earn 'em."

Tess looked to Joel, who merely held his hand on his beard, then back at Marlene, raising her hands, "how many cards are we talking about?"

"I don't give a damn about ration cards," Marlene shook her head. "I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that – I'll give you your guns back, and then some."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need you to agree before we can talk about it."

"How do we know you got 'em?" Joel asked, referring to the guns.

He walked closer to her, his arms crossed, "way I hear, the military's been wiping you guys out."

"You're right about that," she said. "I'll show you the weapons."

Suddenly, we heard the sound of soldiers in the building we'd come out of, chasing Robert.

"Search the area," one said.

"Yes, sir," another replied.

"I gotta move," Marlene said with urgency, backing away from us. "What's it gonna be?"

Tess nodded, saying, "I wanna see those guns."

"Follow me."

We ran behind Marlene back the way she'd come out of the ally, and she lead us to the roof of a building where we could see a good majority of the city. In the distance, we saw an explosion, which then turned to flames.

"Holy shit," Tess said. "Is that your people?"

"What's left of them," she answered simply. "Why do you think I'm turning to you guys?" She then began to lead us down off the roof, and into the open window of the building.

"So why now?" Joel asked her.

"We've been quiet. Been planning on leaving the city, but they need a scapegoat. They've been trying to rile us up."

"Looks like they did."

"Bastards," I said.

"We're trying to _defend _ourselves," Marlene countered.

She led us down the levels of the building, and it became clear to me that this was an old warehouse. She wasn't slowing down for anything. It was pretty impressive considering she had that injury.

"How you holding up?" Tess called to her.

"I'll live."

We came out of the building on the bottom floor, and I realized we were close to the Bunker Hill Bridge, or at least that's what it used to be called. The name didn't really matter so much now. We came to an area with a door at the far end, but Marlene stopped us.

"Hold up, soldiers," she said. "That's the way out. The door under the bridge."

"I ain't a big fan of these odds," Joel said.

"We can sneak by them, even though I know that's not your style."

"Stealth is my middle name, Marlene," I said.

"Good," she answered. "You'll need every ounce of it."

"We'll see how it goes," Tess said. "Let's get moving."

We moved around as quietly as possible. As we got closer to the door, we realized that we had to go up some stairs and through a building to get to the door, since there was a huge drop off between us and the platform where it was. It seemed easy enough, but the building we had to go through was heavily armed with soldiers. We tried to sneak around them, but it became clear that Tess and Joel were not going to be able to simply sneak around them. Marlene and I could, but I knew it would only make them nervous. That being said, they strangled a few soldiers as we went. All in all, however, it was a fairly simply journey to the door.

Once through the door, we noticed that there was a rack of lockers on one side of it. Marlene and Tess quickly moved it in front of the door so no one could get in after us. We were in yet another warehouse, only this one was only one story, and it lead to the outside.

"This way," Marlene led. "It's not far now."

As we walked through the warehouse and came outside, I realized that we were no longer at the docks, but rather on the outskirts of the city again. Almost immediately after we walked outside, a voice came over the speakers on the buildings.

**Attention: Curfew is now in full effect. Anyone caught outside without proper authorization will be arrested and prosecuted.**

"Shit, we need to hurry," Tess said, as we went into another building to avoid the outside. We walked into the basement.

"What the hell are we smuggling?" Joel asked, like I had earlier.

"I'll show you," Marlene said, as we went up a flight of stairs onto the first floor, which was a huge kitchen. We came to a door on one side.

"In here," Marlene said before trying to open the door. She couldn't do it, however, so she asked Joel to open it for her. When he did, she fell to the floor, and began to crawl.

"Woah, woah, woah," Joel said, leaning down to help her. "C'mon now, get on up."

I entered the room, which was the front of a diner, and suddenly, there was a knife in my face. "Get the fuck away from her!" a voice screamed at us, but I didn't notice who right away. All I saw was the blade of the knife.

"Hey, hey hey –," Tess came up from behind me and grabbed the arm of whoever was holding the knife, which was quickly out of my face, and fighting with Tess.

I could see now that a girl about my age held the knife. She had auburn hair which was pulled back in a high ponytail, and it was very apparent that she was a tough one.

"Let her go," Marlene said to Tess, still on the floor.

Tess let go of the girl's arm with a shove.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't ya?" Joel asked, noticing the girl.

"She's not one of mine," Marlene said, getting up on her feet. The girl put the knife, which was a pocket knife, in her back pocket, and rushed over to Marlene, helping her to a nearby table, while Joel closed the door.

"Shit," the girl said. "What happened?"

"Don't worry, this is fixable," Marlene told her. "I got us help."

The girl looked back at the three of us. "But I can't come with you," Marlene added.

"Well then I'm staying," the girl said stubbornly.

"Ellie, we won't get another shot at this."

"Hey–," Joel said, going toward the girl, and pointing at her. "We're smuggling her?"

"Like a fully functioning person?" I added, shaking my head. "And I thought I'd seen it all."

"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capital building," Marlene said.

"That's not exactly close," Tess said.

"You're capable," she looked from Tess to Joel. "You hand her off, come back, the weapons are yours. _Double _what Robert sold me."

"Speaking of which – where are they?" Tess asked.

"Back in our camp."

Tess chuckled, "we're not smuggling shit until I see them."

"You'll follow me," Marlene seemed to be getting weaker by the second. "You can verify the weapons. I can get patched up." She pointed to Ellie, "but she's not crossing to that part of town. I want Joel and Kara to watch over her."

"Woah woah, I don't think that's the best idea," Joel said.

"Bullshit! I'm not going with them," Ellie said at the same time, raising her arm in our direction.

"Ellie…" Marlene stopped her.

"How do you know them?" Ellie asked.

"I was close with his brother, Tommy," she said. "Said if I was ever in a jam, I could rely on him. And I've known Kara since the day she was born. I know for a _fact _you can trust her."

Ellie glanced at me, and I nodded slightly.

"Was that before or after he left your little militia group?" Joel asked, referring to what she'd said about in regards to him.

"He left you too. He was a good man."

Tess leaned in close to us, "Look, just take her to the north tunnel and wait for me there."

"How 'bout it, Joel?" I asked.

He looked at the ground, "Jesus Christ."

"She's just cargo, Joel," Tess said.

"No," I said. Everyone looked at me. "She's a person. Guns are cargo. Food, rags, and bullets are cargo. She –," I pointed to Ellie, "is not cargo."

Tess and Joel gave me a puzzled look, but sighed after a short pause.

"Whatever you say," Tess said, raising her hands in a truce. Joel said nothing, just stared at me.

"Marlene…" Ellie said quietly, looking away from me.

"No more talking," Marlene told her. "You'll be fine." She stopped leaning on the table and stood on her feet again. "Now go with them," she finished.

Joel looked at Tess, "don't take long." He then turned his attention to Ellie, "and you – stay close."

He began to walk away, but I lingered, motioning for her. "C'mon," I said. Ellie started walking with me, and we followed Joel out of the diner.


	6. Chapter 6: Small Talk

**Authors Note (Feel free to skip if you don't care): Yes, I've decided to upload two chapter in one day (sort of, it's 2 a.m.). I was feeling especially inspired today. Also, I want to thank you, the readers, for sticking with the series, and hopefully enjoying the ride as much as I am. You guys are amazing. Without further adieu, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 6: Small Talk<em>

We left the diner, and walked out onto the street, where two bodies were lying lifeless on the ground. Ellie walked over to them, and looked down.

"Woah…" she said. "I heard the shooting, but…"

I walked over to her, a sort of protective instinct overpowering me. I didn't know how many newly-dead bodies this girl had seen, but I did know it took me a long time to get over it when I first started seeing them; to get over the notion that I could've helped. In the end, I couldn't have helped them, but I didn't know if she'd come to that realization or not, so I made a mental note to stick close to her.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked her.

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, though."

"No problem," I said as she began to jog with me. We were following Joel, but he'd waited for us, which surprised me. Joel's usual mentality was 'keep up or get left behind.'

"What happened?" Ellie asked him once we continued toward the north bridge.

"The Fireflies," Joel simply said. "Same thing's gonna happen to us if we don't get off the street."

"We're just following you, Joel," I said. "I haven't the faintest idea where the fuck we are." I looked around, trying to see if I recognized anything, but I didn't. It was strange to me that we'd been to so many foreign places in the city I've lived in my whole life in just a matter of hours. This place was bigger than I thought.

"Yeah, you're the pro," Ellie added to my thoughts.

Joel didn't say anything to us; he just led us into an underground tunnel, all the while, the speakers were blaring messages.

**Attention: Harboring or aiding wanted criminals is punishable by death. Do not place yourself at risk. Report any suspicious activity immediately.**

"Down here," Joel said when we'd reached the tunnel, which only led to the outside again. As we went around various buildings, Joel would yell out occasional things to us like 'c'mon' and 'keep up.' He was being very snippy when he said them to boot. This wasn't like him. Usually, he was very quiet and didn't say much of anything. When he did speak, he was generally kind. What changed in the last ten minutes in him? I didn't bother to ask. Joel's mind was a very strange place, I'd learned over the years.

We eventually came to a building with a platform on one of the higher stories that we couldn't reach.

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked, looking around.

"Up there," Joel said, pointing to the platform. "That'll get us to the north tunnel."

"How are we supposed to reach that?"

"Just gimme a minute," he said with a sigh.

He went around the corner to look for something, and I waited at the base of the building. Ellie came up and stood beside me.

"You know, he's not usually like this," I said, feeling like I had to reassure her. "He's really a nice guy."

"What do you mean? I think he's being the nicest person ever right now," Ellie said sarcastically.

I laughed a little, "I'm Kara." I held out my hand to her.

She shook it, "Ellie."

"I know they said our names back there and shit, but…ya know…"

"No, I totally get it," Ellie said.

It was weird talking to someone my own age. I couldn't remember the last time I'd even seen someone my own age. It felt good too, though. It felt almost like I didn't have to prove anything. We were already on equal footing; it was kind of a relief.

While Joel was away, I finally got a good look at Ellie. Nothing had changed about her, but I was beginning to see the details of her. Her ponytail was messily done, and small pieces of hair were coming undone. Her clothes were mostly caked with dirt, as was her face. She didn't have a rough look to her that many of the adults had. She still maintained an aura of vulnerability about her. I was oddly drawn to it.

Joel came back then with a dumpster, snapping me out of my train of thought. We hoped up on the dumpster, which made getting to the platform an obtainable goal. We continued in silence for a while, and I finally began to recognize where we were, until Joel tried to make small talk with Ellie, which was more of the personality I recognized in him.

"So what's the deal with you and Marlene, anyways?" he asked her.

"I don't know. She's my friend, I guess," she answered.

"Your friend, huh? You're friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What're you, like twelve?"

"She knew my mom, and she's been looking after me," Ellie said. "And I'm fourteen, not that that has anything to do with anything."

"See, Joel," I said, referring to the similar talk we had this morning. "Age doesn't mean shit."

"…I guess it doesn't."

"I think I'll have better luck with him while you're around, Ellie," I said to her, smiling. I couldn't help myself. I was glad she was around, if only for someone to talk to other than the usual suspects.

"Maybe," she said in return.

"Don't get used to it, Kara," Joel said. "Remember, we're just dropping her off."

"Doesn't mean we can't play house in the meantime."

"…okay. So where are your parents?" He asked Ellie the question.

"Where are anyone's parents? They've been gone a long, long time."

"I'm sorry," I said to her. I knew what that was like.

"It's cool," she said to me. "I'm over it."

"Hmm," Joel thought. "So instead of just staying in school, you just decide to run off and join the Fireflies, is that it?"

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling me if that's what you're getting at."

"You wanna know the best thing about my job?" Joel snapped. All his friendliness was gone in an instant, and he was starting to act like he had ever since Ellie first came with us. Who was this person?

"I don't gotta know why," Joel continued. "Be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to."

"Well great," Ellie said. I was about to say something to Joel on her behalf, but she seemed to have a good handle on him, so I stayed back. It was kind of a nice thing to see, actually. I smiled to myself thinking about it.

"Good," Joel said.

We eventually came to a building with a long hallway, lined with rooms. We went to the last door, and went inside. I'd been to this room before. It was a sort of waiting room for us during certain times. It was plain, with blue walls, and a single window. There was a couch in the middle of the room, which Joel promptly plopped down on, stretching out, and closing his eyes. I through my backpack on the floor, and sat on the window pane. Ellie stood in the middle of the room, not really knowing what to do.

She looked at Joel, "what're you doing?"

"Killing time."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I am sure you will figure that out."

"C'mon Ellie, come talk to me," I said, moving over so we could both fit on the window pane. "Fuck him."

"I heard that," he said.

"Good."

Ellie walked toward me slowly, eyeing Joel.

"Your watch is broken," she pointed out to him as she came over to me. She sat down beside me, throwing her backpack on the floor like I had.

"I keep telling him that, but he refuses to take it off," I said to her.

"He doesn't seem to be a very good listener."

"Usually, no. But he has his moments," I said. We both looked at Joel, whose breathing was already heavy with sleep.

"Does he always just…sleep like that?" Ellie asked

"Yep," I said. "He's already asleep."

"Won't we wake him up by talking?"

"Nah. A bomb could go off, and he wouldn't wake up."

"Ahh," she said, looking away from him. "Why aren't you sleeping then?"

"Trust me, I would love to. The trouble is I can't. I have insomnia something terrible."

She smiled a bit, chuckling, "you picked a wrong world to have insomnia in."

"You're telling me. It's total bullshit."

"I bet," she said, as I began to play with my hair to give my hands something to do.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Shoot."

"What's your deal?" she asked me.

"My _deal_?" I asked, letting go of my hair. "what do you mean?"

"Yeah, like how do you know these guys?"

"Tess is my aunt," I said.

"The lady with the demon grip?"

"That'd be the one," I laughed. "I'll have to tell her that one."

"What about him?" Ellie cocked her head towards Joel.

"Joel…he's just always been around. I can't remember a time when he wasn't."

"Where're your parents?"

"Gone," I said with a shrug. Ellie nodded. It seems stupid to say, but I felt a bond forming between the two of us in that instant. Losing both parents was something we could both understand.

"At least you have Tess," she said sympathetically. "That's _someone_."

"Yeah, that's true."

"So what is it you guys do?"

I widened my eyes, "like what do we do to survive?"

"Yeah."

I paused, and thought about how to word it, "fucked up shit."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning, we do fucked up shit. What else is there?"

"Like specifics."

"You don't waste any time on small talk, do you?" I asked.

"I wanna know who I'm dealing with."

I paused, not wanting to talk about this, but also not wanting to be silent either. I rubbed my face in my hands, looking at the ground, and chose the latter. "Black Market shit."

"Fuck…" Ellie leaned back against the wall. "I mean, I can see those two getting in, but I'm shocked they'd let you in on it. That shit's dangerous, right?"

"Yeah, it is," I said. "But I'm pretty much an adult to them. Well, to Tess I am, but Joel still kind of sees me as a kid."

"Don't you ever have time for fun?" Ellie asked.

"Not really," I said. "I don't understand the concept."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean we live in a world where we have to be on our guard 24/7, and we could get killed at any minute. I don't see much point in trying to have fun."

"So, what you're saying is, you don't know how to be a kid."

"Basically, yeah," I said, a smile crossing over my lips.

Ellie cocked her head, and stared at me in amazement, and for some reason, I felt my heart begin to beat faster. I didn't get it. We weren't running, and nothing bad was happening to us. So, why the fuck was my heart being a complete idiot? I ignored it, and focused on her.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head a little. "Tell you what? Whilst I'm with you, I'm going to do my damndest to teach you how to be a kid."

"Ooh, a few hours of childhood," I thought. "Sounds awesome."

"Good," Ellie smiled.

She looked out the window at the setting sun, and I didn't know why, but I didn't move my eyes away from her. The rays of the setting sun shone into the window, almost directly into her eyes. The light made white speckles across them, and I could see them twitching, looking at the horizon. I'd never noticed before how green they were; how beautiful they were.

She looked back at me, noticing the silence between us, "what are you looking at?"

I looked down, "nothing." I was embarrassed she'd seen me staring. What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn't I look away from her? She probably thought I was a total creep.

As I dwelled on this, she began to talk again, "so you know how Tess called me 'cargo'?"

"What about it?"

"Why'd you stand up for me when you didn't even know my name?"

"I knew your name. Marlene said it."

"C'mon, Kara," she said, rolling her eyes a little. I got the strangest feeling in my chest and in my stomach as she said my name, and once again, I didn't understand it. I tried to ignore it. "Why'd you do it – seriously?" she finished.

" Because you're not," I shrugged.

"But they felt like I was."

"Yeah, see here's the thing," I said, shifting my weight a little on the window pane. "Tess, Joel, Marlene…all of them were around before things all went to shit. You know that. They know what it's like to not have to live like this. This world changed them, and not necessarily for the better. Tess and Joel went down a different path than Marlene. They have few lines left to cross. Me, I still have some morals, and I refuse to dehumanize someone who doesn't deserve it. Also, it's not every day that I meet someone my own age."

She smiled a little, which fucked up my chest even further, "don't you have any friends?"

"Can't say as I do," I said. "I don't think I've ever really had any."

"Well, I'll be your friend," Ellie said, stretching out her hand toward me.

I took her hand in mine, a big smile coming across my face, "and I'll be yours."

And just like that, I made my first friend in the world that allowed no friends.


	7. Chapter 7: Three Weeks

_Chapter 7: Three Weeks_

As time passed, Ellie and I chatted amongst ourselves about things that didn't really have anything to do with anything in particular. I had my first real friend, and although it made me giddy with excitement, it still amazed me how our conversations came so naturally. There was no ulterior motive to discover; no hidden information. We were just talking. Maybe this what part of what made friendship such an unobtainable thing for me my whole life. The inability to simply…be. With her, all this seemed so easy. I wanted to hold onto this feeling forever.

As the sky darkened outside, we saw less and less of the buildings outside since people rarely had electricity around here. We watched them fade, then eventually the world came alive with the bright lights of windows and spotlights in the streets. We watched the rain begin to fall in a heavy stream across our view, hitting the window in hard droplets as it came down. Though I didn't like rain as a general rule, I had to admit that it was calming. There was no thunder, no lightning to disrupt the mood. It was just a constant stream of water; consistency is what I found beautiful. Ellie and I watched the rain in silence. I think she was as mesmerized by it as I was.

After a while, Joel began to stir on the couch. We looked at him, and discovered that he was waking himself up.

"You mumble in your sleep," Ellie said to him, as he's said many inaudible things as the time passed. I sometimes wondered what he had to say. "I hate bad dreams," she finished.

"I told you," I added.

"I believed you," Joel said to me, groggily, sitting up on the couch, and moving so that he was sitting normally on it. He stood, walking over to us, and pausing at the window.

"You know I've never been this close," Ellie said to both of us. "To the outside."

"Really?" I asked. It hadn't occurred to me that some people had never left Boston.

"Never. Have you?"

"A few times. With the Black Market shit, it's pretty common, actually," I said.

"The hell are you telling her, Kara?" Joel hissed.

"Nothing that isn't already public knowledge, Joel," I answered. "Calm down."

He rubbed his face with his hands, saying "okay." He seemed to mellow down after that, going over to an oil lamp that sat on a table beside the couch, and lighting it.

"It can't be any worse out there," Ellie said, referring to the outside. "Can it?" she stood up from the window pane, and glanced at Joel and me. I didn't know if I could tell that it could always get worse.

"What on earth do the Fireflies want with you?" Joel questioned her.

Before she could answer, the door to the room opened, and Tess thundered in. "Hey," she said. "Sorry it took so long. Soldiers fucking everywhere."

I wanted to tell her. I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs that I had a friend. My first friend ever. But I held my tongue. I knew that Tess wouldn't think it was all that important, especially since Ellie would only be with us for a few more hours. I had to swallow the lump in my throat at the thought of her leaving after only just meeting her. What was wrong with me?

"How's Marlene?" Ellie asked Tess, who walked over to us.

"She'll make it," Tess answered. I stood up from the window.

Tess turned to Joel, "Look, I saw the merchandise. It's a lot. Wanna do this?" I prayed that he would tell her yes. I wanted to have as much time with Ellie as I could. I knew that once she was gone, that would be the end.

"Yeah," he said to my relief.

"Let's go," Tess said, walking toward the door. The rest of us followed silently. We walked through the building with Tess and Joel up front. Ellie and I hung back, as if reluctant to make this go any faster than necessary. At least that was going on in my mind.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that they're having us do their smugglin'?" Joel asked Tess at one point.

"Marlene wanted to do it herself," Tess told him. "We weren't her first choice…or her second for that matter. She's lost a lot of me. Beggars can't be choosers."

"Yeah, let's just hope there's someone alive to pay us."

"Someone'll be around."

"That true?" I asked Ellie. I didn't worry about them hearing us. They were lost in their own world.

"Yeah," Ellie said. "It's fucking pathetic."

"Who's waiting for us at the drop-off?" I heard Joel ask.

"She said there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city," Tess answered. "Girl must be important."

"You shit gold or something?" I asked Ellie with a smile.

Her smile was less amused than mine, "something like that." I didn't probe her. Probably the less I knew, the better.

"You some big-wig's daughter?" Tess added, to which Ellie just repeated herself, "something like that."

We were close to coming outside the building by the time Ellie asked, "how long is this all gonna take?"

"If everything goes according to plan, we should get you to them in a few hours," Tess said. A few hours. A few hours were all I had.

"Ellie," Tess added, "when we get out there, I need you to stay close to Kara. She'll be following us, but if something happens, you can rely on her." Her praise warmed my heart, and I nodded in appreciation at her.

"Okay, no problem." From that moment on, Ellie was right on my heels; sometimes so close that I could feel her breathing on my shoulder. A strange confidence filled me; I liked the feeling of being responsible for someone, even though she could probably take care of herself with no issues. However, the fact that she was so close to me made me wonder if she had a tiny bit of fear in her. I wouldn't blame her if she was, but I dared not ask.

Before we could all go outside, Joel went to check and see if the coast was clear. I was glad he did because there were patrols nearby. I could see the faint light of their flashlights in the rain. When they were gone, Joel called to us, and we went out into the rain without hesitation. It hit my body like freezing bullets. The temperature had dropped significantly, and I shivered despite myself. I looked back at Ellie to make sure she was okay, and as she looked back at me, I could see the trail of raindrops on her face; everywhere but in those green eyes of hers.

"Holy shit," she said. "I'm actually outside."

"How does it feel?" I asked.

"Fucking amazing," she grinned, and my chest felt like it jumped. "I want to run around, screaming."

"No do it," I said sarcastically. "I wanna see how far you'd get."

"My guess is ten feet," she said.

"I guess five."

We walked through the outside, which was little more than an eroded valley of rocks and rubble, but a small streamed was able to flow through. Fallen down walls and rusted metal blocked our path in various places, but none of that was important. We were focusing on the patrols.

"This rain isn't gonna do us any good," Joel said as we went. Despite what Joel said, we were doing pretty well with our progress, and we were able to avoid the soldiers. That is, until we walked around a particularly large rock, and didn't expect to be met face-to-face with two soldiers on the other side. One by one, they forced us to our knees in a line, and told us to put our hands behind our heads. We'd been caught before, so I knew what to expect, but my heart was racing all the same. One walked away, talking on her walkie-talked, while the other held up a tiny machine that looked like a television remote to our necks, all the while holding a handgun with his free hand. An infection scanner. These assholes were really worried that we were infected.

Tess was the first person he scanned, and as he scanned her, she said, "look the other way. We can make this worth your while."

"Shut up," he told her. He finished with Joel and me, and when he got to Ellie, he stuck the scanner on her neck, and almost immediately, she took out her knife, and stabbed him in the leg. He cried out in pain, and she tried to grab the gun out of his hand, but he shoved her to the ground, aiming his gun at her. An overwhelming desire to protect came over me, and before he could shoot, Joel and I pounced on him, so that he missed her by a long shot. I was surprised he jumped the guy with me; perhaps he had more of a protective instinct than I was aware of.

The other soldier aimed her gun at us, but Tess killed her before she could do anything, and Joel shot the soldier we jumped on with his own gun. Ellie stood by in amazement.

"You okay?" I asked her as I stood up and walked over to her.

"Yeah," she said as I helped her to her feet. "Fuck…I thought we were gonna just…hold 'em up or something." She was shaking, and before I even thought about it, I was holding her against me. Her body fit perfectly with mine, as if we were molded out of the same stone. She curled her head so that she was resting her forehead against my shoulder.

"It's alright," I said, trying to control my breathing. I still didn't understand the effect she had on me, but I figured it would just have to be something I ignored. Maybe then it would go away. It was clear to me that she'd probably never seen anyone get killed in front of her eyes before. Her innocence astounded me. She slowly began to stop shaking, and I wondered what that made me, since seeing people get killed was an almost everyday occurrence for me. One thing was for sure; I was definitely not innocent.

Meanwhile, Tess went over to the scanner that the soldier had dropped on the ground, and picked it up. "Oh shit," she said, before throwing it to Joel. "Look."

Joel glanced at it for a second, and said, "Jesus Christ." He looked at Ellie, who was still leaning against me, "Marlene set us up."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, the instinct to protect still strong.

"Why the hell are we smuggling an _infected _girl?!"

"What?" I said, pushing her so that she was at arm's length away from me before letting go and backing away toward Tess and Joel.

"Seriously?!" I cried. "I finally get a friend, and she's motherfucking infected. That's just fucking fantastic." I didn't really know how to feel. Betrayed wasn't the right word, but it was the best I could come up with.

"I'm not infected," Ellie said, her head shaking violently, terror showing in her voice.

"No?" Joel asked. "What, is this lying?" he threw the scanner at the ground beside her.

"I can explain."

"You better explain fast," Tess warned, holding her gun in her hand. She wasn't aiming it yet, but the threat was there.

"Look at this," Ellie said as she pushed the sleeve up her right arm so that her entire forearm was showing. We could now plainly see the crescent-shaped bite mark on her arm, and the large bumps that dotted the area. The bite was still a bit red, but I'd definitely seen worse. All the same, I could hardly look at it at all. I chose to look the other way.

"I don't care how you got infected," Joel said, turning his back on her.

"It's three weeks old," Ellie said. That stopped my thoughts in their tracks. I jerked my head, looking back at her again.

"No," Tess said. "Everyone turns within two days. You stop bullshitting"

"It's three weeks. I swear," Ellie said, looking from one person to another. "Why would she set you up?"

Ellie made eye contact with me specifically, and I looked deep into her eyes. I was searching for answers, contemplating. It was true what Tess had said about the two days, yet it was also true what Ellie said about Marlene; she had no motive to set us up. There was no way Joel was buying this, and Tess just stood there. The way I saw it, it was up to me, and I was a very good bullshit detector.

Ellie's eyes searched me just as much as I searched her. I saw the pain and terror she was feeling at that moment. It got my heart beating again, but in a way that made me feel sympathetic. It was as if she was dropping all her walls, and allowing me to see her at her lowest point, the point where she was genuinely scared for her life. This was proof enough for me.

My eyes widened as the truth hit me like a pile of bricks. Ellie was infected, yet she didn't die. She was immune. That had never happened to someone before, and I didn't really know what to make of it. One thing was certain, though. If she was immune, then there was still hope for the world, even if it was trapped in the body of a 14-year-old girl.

"I believe her," I said, surprising both Joel and Tess. My eyes still never left Ellie, whose eyes also showed surprise, and a hint of happiness.

"You can't be fucking serious," Joel said.

"I am."

"How can you tell?"

"You know me, Joel," I said, shifting my gaze to him. "When have I ever been wrong about whether someone was lying or not?" I was right, but I knew Ellie wasn't out of the woods yet. The three of us were a democracy, and the other two could still decide to kill her.

There was a pause from the both of them, then Tess gripped my chin, and moved my face so that I was looking at her. She looked me in the eyes for a few seconds. I hoped she was looking at me as an equal, and not her niece. I needed her to be on my side with this, and I knew she was looking for the passion in my eyes; the belief in my eyes.

"Okay," Tess said, letting go of my face, deciding to trust me. I turned my gaze back to Ellie, who nearly knocked me on my ass from the hug she gave me. Her arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, and her head rested on my chest. I could barely breathe, but I still giggled despite myself. I only hoped that she couldn't hear my heart beating so fast.

"Thank you," she breathed against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her as a response, resting my head on top of hers, which was easy since she was a good few inches shorter than me. It'd been so long since I'd gotten a hug. I enjoyed the feeling.

"Tess, are you fucking kidding me?" Joel asked.

"Look, I'm not fully convinced either, but I want to trust Kara," she said.

"Well, you go right ahead. I will continue to be not convinced in the slightest." I barely listened to them. The only thing I noticed during that time was her, and that hug.


	8. Chapter 8: Bad For Business

_Chapter 8: Bad For Business_

I didn't have time to enjoy the moment for long. It felt like as soon as the hug began, it was interrupted. We heard a noise in the distance, and when we wall turned to look, we saw a soldier vehicle approaching us at high speeds. The headlights were shining brightly through the rain..

"God dammit," Tess said. "They must've called for back-up." She referred to the two dead soldiers at our feet.

"Run," Joel said.

He and Tess took off at nearly the same time, and as Ellie let go of me, I cried, "c'mon!" and ran alongside her, following the others away from the vehicle, and hopped down an embankment of dirt, revealing a lower level altogether. We made it just in time, and we were so close to the soldiers that I could hear them calling in for more back-up once they saw the bodies. An alarm was sounded, which was a screeching buzz from a nearby building that repeated indefinitely. We knew now that this was a matter of life and death, and we needed to be extremely careful.

"Follow me," Tess said quietly, going ahead of us. "Quickly." I hadn't realized she knew this area, but I guessed I should've realized she did because of the Black Market stuff.

She led us through the lower levels, which was increasingly difficult because the rain had picked up, much to my displeasure, and it began to look like a pathway. The dirt walls on either side of us grew higher and higher, and guards were beginning to post themselves at certain parts, shining their flashlights around, trying to find us.

We ran through the path as quickly as possible, avoiding the soldiers' flashlights, hopping over the random obstacles, and attempting to be quiet as we sloshed through puddles and streams made from the rain. All the while, Ellie stayed right on my heels, and I was grateful for it. I knew it was stupid for me to worry about her since living in this world alone taught you to be quick on your fight, and to follow the leader. However, since she'd just newly joined up with us, I became a bit paranoid that she would have a hard time keeping up with the things we found easy to do. My worries were soon proven to be dumbfounded, as she was very capable of staying on my heels.

When we cleared the pathway, we came onto an empty street, and I thought we were home free, but I soon realized I was wrong. Yet another patrol was up ahead, and this time, I knew it'd be impossible to sneak by them like we had before. We would have to use our guns, and I was well aware of the fact that Ellie didn't have one.

Tess looked at her and said, "stay right on our heels. This is gonna get ugly."

I took out my gun, and noticed Ellie's eyes had a touch of fear in them from hearing that, but she quickly squelched it. All the same, I wanted to make her feel more secure. "We'll protect you," I said. "I'd stay closer to me, though. I'm a better shot." I tried to keep things light-hearted, and she seemed to appreciate my efforts, though it probably had little effect.

"Correction," Tess said, eying me sarcastically. "She's a _good_ shot, but she is nowhere near a _better _shot." I was glad Tess went along with my sarcasm, though it didn't surprise me. In general, she was a very serious person, but she could also be an accommodating, funny person.

"Look," Tess added, "there's a sewer in a ditch at the far end of the street past the patrols. We get there, we're in the clear."

"Got it," I said.

"Yeah," Joel said.

Though we knew we'd be shooting, we still tried to be stealthy to avoid an ambush. We tried to separate, but with Ellie weaponless, we decided it would be best to stay together. Joel fired the first shot, and it all began. Soldiers seemed to come out of ever cranny of the street, aiming their guns, and firing in what seemed like any direction. It was like they were disoriented from the rain, but it made no difference to me. I could see. I shot with purpose, aiming for the head, which was always a clear hit. It wasted fewer bullets to boot. As shots were being fired, I ran for the ditch that Tess had mentioned. I could see it in my sights, when I noticed a soldier coming up to us on Ellie's side. I stopped, turned around quickly, and shot him, killing him on contact. However, I only realized after the fact that I'd also brought Ellie to my chest with my free hand. I let go of her quickly, and grabbed her arm to get her running again, and once we reached the ditch, I threw my gun into the back of my pants, and we jumped into the ditch with a thud.

We were fairly confident that the soldiers could no longer see is, and Tess and Joel hadn't made their way to us yet. In addition, I could hear gunfire from above us.

We stood up, our backpacks breaking our fall, gaining our balance after the jump and looked at each other, panting for breath from all the running.

"You know something?" Ellie said, catching her breath.

"What?"

"You saved my life twice today."

I paused for a moment before answering, "I guess I did. What are friends for?"

"True," she said.

"Yeah, and we don't have much longer for it anyway." The very thought of it made my stomach drop.

"What do you mean?" she asked, coming up close to me, giving me a puzzled look.

"Well, when we bring you to the Fireflies, that'll be it, right? Friendship done?"

"What?" she asked, surprised. "No, that's not how this whole 'friendship' thing works."

"How does it work? You're my first friend, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Friends don't just _stop_ being friends when they aren't together anymore. They last a lifetime no matter where they end up, apart or together. Trust me, in my experience, friends are some of the most powerful things you can have, and we're friends. Therefore, we're pretty fucking important in the grand scheme of things."

I gave her a small smile, "I guess you're right."

"What, you need me to prove it?"

"Kind of," I didn't want to lie to her. The concept of 'friendship' was still new to me, but to her credit, she was turning out to be very patient with me. I was grateful for that. As a response, she held out her fist to me, but her pinky was sticking out, up in the air. I didn't know what to do, so I just…stared at it.

Finally I said, "what the hell kind of proof is that?"

"It's a pinky swear," she said with a laugh. "Haven't you ever done one?"

"No," I said, almost embarrassed. I never had the opportunity. There were barely any kids my age around.

"Well, put your hand out like mine," she coached.

When I did what she asked, she said, "now, wrap your pinky around mine."

I did as she asked tentatively, as I wasn't quite sure what the point of all this was. She wrapped her own pinky around mine in return, and shook her arm up and down so that my arm moved with hers.

"What was the point of that?" I asked when we released our hands.

"Pinky swears can never be broken," Ellie said. "It's some voodoo magic or something."

I giggled, "alright, I believe you."

"Good."

Just then, Tess and Joel hopped down into the ditch, and walked over to us.

"Good, you're already here," Tess noticed. "I thought you guys were still back there." That was her way of saying she was worried about us.

"We're fine, Tess," I said. She nodded in return, and pointed to a large sewer that was sticking out of one side of the ditch.

"Over there," she said.

The ditch was low enough that we could crouch through it. It lead into the side of the ditch, and as we went through it, we put on our flashlights due to the fact that we no longer had outside lights to guide us. I was surprised to see that Ellie had a flashlight too, but I soon realized it was stupid of me to assume she didn't. When we came out the other end of the sewer, we entered the basement of a building. There were shovels around, and they'd obviously been used to dig the entrance to this room from the sewer tunnel, which meant that this was some kind of passage somewhere.

"Yeah, this looks right," Tess said.

"Well, at least we're out of the rain," Joel said.

We made our way up a flight of stairs, and into a different area, with a hole in one side of the wall, leading to the outside. We went to go use it, with Joel ahead of us, but right at the entrance he stopped us, hearing voices of a patrol.

"Son of a bitch, can we not catch a break?" I asked.

"Apparently not," Ellie replied.

We crept outside, trying to keep low, aware that they could spot us at any moment.

"I don't think they see us," Joel pointed out. "Stay in the shadows.

We did, Tess and Joel sticking together up front; Ellie and I making up the rear. I was used to this kind of thing, so I wasn't fazed, but I kept an eye on Ellie, who seemed to be handling all this rather well. Maybe she was used to this kind of thing too. We made our way past the soldiers, and into another building, which lead us into the main sewer system of the city. The water that ran through it was waist deep, and I was terrified that we were going to be heard by them, especially since the ceiling was made up of metal grates. Needless to say, we turned off the flashlights. We heard the soldiers above looking for us, which didn't help. Eventually, we came to an iron gate at the end of a sewer, which lead to a kind of field with a broken off piece of a concrete bridge, and a faded highway sign, away from where the soldiers were. We even heard their cars wheeling away into the distance.

"Okay they're gone," Joel said.

Ellie sat down on the grass, putting her head in her hands. I followed her lead, sitting right beside her. I knew Joel and Tess were going to talk about her being infected again, now that we were out of immediate danger, and I wanted to support her if things got ugly.

Tess came over to us, crouched down, and looked Ellie in the eye, "Look, what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the Fireflies. What then?"

"Marlene…" Ellie began. "She said that they have their own little quarantine zone…with doctors there still trying to find a cure."

"Yeah, we heard that before, huh, Tess?" Joel piped in, watching us.

"And that…" Ellie continued. "Whatever happened to me is the key to finding a vaccine."

"Oh, Jesus," Joel piped in again.

"It's what she said."

"Oh, I'm sure she did."

"Hey, fuck you, man," Ellie stood up. "I didn't ask for this."

"Me neither."

"Joel, knock it off," I said, standing alongside her. I wouldn't normally speak to him that way under most circumstances, and I think that I must've shocked him because he didn't say anything back. His reaction is what shocked me. I expected to make some authoritative comment back to me, but he didn't. He'd always seen me as a kid before, but in that moment, he saw me as an adult; an equal. In that moment, I knew our relationship would be different. For better or for worse, I didn't know.

Ignoring me, he went over to Tess, who had also stood up, "Tess, what the hell are we doing here?"

"What if it's true?" she said simply, surprising me. She was beginning to believe, and not just trust me. I almost didn't believe it, and I was looking right at her.

"I still can't believe you're buying this bullshit," Joel said to her, angrily.

"What if, Joel? I mean, we've come this far. Let's just finish it."

He grabbed her arm, and pulled her aside, away from us. We could still hear him, though, so I didn't really see the point in his actions. "Do I need to remind you what is out there?" he asked her.

"Hey," I called over to them. They both looked at me, snapping out of whatever it was they were thinking. "Don't I have a fucking say in this?"

They paused; Tess put her hands on her hips, and looked at the ground, before looking at me. "Of course you do."

"Then I want to finish it," I said. "I never leave things undone." I wanted to help Ellie, and I wasn't about to leave her out here defenseless.

I walked over to where they were standing, and leaned close to Joel. "It's bad for business," I sneered at him, before continuing to walk in the general direction we were supposed to me going. Ellie followed behind me, moving quickly to catch up. I stopped about ten feet ahead of them, and turned back around, waiting. Tess said something to Joel that I couldn't make out, then walked over to us. All eyes were on Joel. His eyes glanced over all of us, then sighed, and joined us.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you are all continuing to enjoy this story as much as I am, and are interested to see the story unfold. I'm asking you to please leave a review (if you are a Guest, I've made it so that your review will still show up) because I really enjoy reading your input, and it really encourages me to continue the story. Also, if you guys have any questions whatsoever about anything having to do with the story, feel free to PM me, and I will answer you. Beware, though, I will give you spoilers if the answer requires them, so if you don't want any, please specify. Thank you all, and once again, remember to review! ~Amanda<strong>


	9. Chapter 9: Electricity

_Chapter 9: Electricity_

"This way," Tess said as we made our way closer to downtown; toward the capital building, the rain still coming down in hard droplets. "If we cut through downtown, we can make it to the capital building by sunrise."

This time, Ellie and I walked next to each other, with Tess in front, and Joel bringing up the rear. I knew he was struggling with this entire situation; the person he was just didn't allow much wiggle room by way of believing. I could understand that. Living in this world could do that to a man. I didn't know what both Tess and he had done to get to where they are now, and I didn't bother to ask either of them. I didn't want to trigger any hard memories for them, and judging by their current characters and the basics of what I'd heard of the years, there were plenty of bad memories between the two of them that they'd just assume not relive.

Ellie and I looked around at our surroundings; at the pieces of road that reached high into the air, creating huge gaps in the ground, almost like cliffs in some places, mountains in others, leaving broken frames of rotten cars. I'd never seen anything like this before, and the look of awe on her face told me that she hadn't either.

She was the one to break our silence, "what happened here?"

"They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill off as much of the infected as possible," Tess informed. Though she was answering Ellie's question, I had the feeling that she was also talking to me. She liked to talk to be about the things that happened in certain areas when we came across them. As long as the events weren't too personal, she seemed to like talking to me about it. Perhaps it was therapeutic for her in some way.

In the distance, we suddenly heard what sounded like a high pitched shriek, and to my trained ears, it didn't sound exactly human.

"Umm," Ellie said to no one in particular. "What the hell was that?"

"Tess, Kara, do you hear that?" Joel called up to us.

"Yep," I answered.  
>"It sounded pretty far away, though," Tess added.<p>

"Are we safe?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her.

"For now," Tess said.

We came to an area where the skyscrapers were beginning to appear in large numbers. Most of them were intact, but a few of them were missing entire sections of wall. The strange part to me was that there was barely any debris lying around from them. It didn't make any sense, but then again, nothing in my life made any kind of sense. I chose to ignore this fact, and keep going. We eventually came to the edge of our path we were traveling. We'd come to a drop off; a place where a huge bomb had gone off. It had created a crater that went down into the ground so deep that we couldn't see where it ended.

"Damn, that's quite a drop," Ellie said.

"That would really fuck up someone's day," I said, making Ellie chuckle.

"Well, there's the capital building," Joel said, pointing between two sky scrapers on the far end of the crater. In the distance, I could make out what looked like a gold-colored dome roof.

"That gold thing?" I asked just to be sure.

"That's the one."

"We need to get around this mess," Tess said, backing away from the crater, and starting to make her way around it via a different direction. Joel moved from behind us, and went up with Tess, leaving Ellie and me to move behind them, which was starting to become our usual positions.

"So this was all the downtown area," Ellie asked as we walked.

"It was," Tess answered. "Now it's just a giant wasteland."

"I wonder what it was like," Ellie asked me specifically.

"I try not to think about things like that," I told her. "It's–"

"Too fucking painful?"

"Yeah."

"I get it." Once again, I didn't even need to explain myself to her. She just knew, like she was reading my mind or something. I thought I was the only one who'd felt a connection between the two of us. I hadn't expected her to feel one also, but it was now clear to me that she had. I felt warmth creep up into my cheeks, and I turned my head away from her, hoping she wouldn't notice. I was wrong.

"Are you _blushing_?" she asked, trying to see my face, but I moved around so that she couldn't.

"No," I tried to tell her.

"Bullshit! You totally are!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" I placed my hand in front of her mouth, looking at Tess and Joel, relieved that they didn't even look up at what was going on. Suddenly, I felt wetness go up the hand that was over her mouth.

"Gah," I jerked my hand off her mouth. "Did you just fucking _lick_ me?"

"_No_," she mocked me, getting playfully in my face.

"You know what, _fuck you_!" I screamed, trying to wipe my hand on her, but she squealed and hauled ass over to Tess and Joel. I was right on her heels, hand out, ready to wipe at a moment's notice. I chased after her with a kind of urgency and competition that I'd never felt before. I didn't know what came over me, but I did feel like it was fun, and I didn't want it to end. However, we abruptly stopped when she used Tess as a shield, who wasn't having it.

"What the fuck is going on with you guys?" Tess said, irritation showing in her eyes.

"She fucking licked me," I said to her, realizing that Ellie was focusing on her, which gave me the perfect opportunity to wipe my hand on her.

"Aww, fuck you," Ellie said, but she let me do it all the same.

Joel had stopped along with us, and surprisingly, he was the one being the most calm, "why did you lick her?"

"She covered my mouth with her hand," Ellie answered.

"We did that back in the old days," Joel said. "I'm surprised that is still around…with all this."

I looked at Tess, whose irritation faded away. I assumed it was because he'd mentioned the old days. "Let's keep moving," she said, and we continued to walk.

"Why'd you lick me, really?" I asked Ellie after we picked up our usual positions.

"You told me to let you be a kid sometimes," she said. "That's part of it."

Oh," I said, realizing that she'd done it to help me. "Thanks."

The four of us made our way through an old park, as well as a broken office building. All these things were beginning to all look the same to me, since they were all equally as depressing. There was no sign of life anywhere, except for the things that were left behind. Tables, chairs, the occasional piece of paper. Other than that, you could barely tell anyone was ever here; that it ever had a purpose. Eventually, however, we did come across some life, only it was the wrong kind of life. There, propped up against a door, covered in fungus, was a very specific kind of infected. Although it was clearly dead, since it was attached to the way by way of the fungus, it still send shivers down my spine.

"Goddamit," Joel said, moving towards it, "Clicker."

He began to tug at it, prying it away from the wall, since we needed to get through the door, and it was blocking our way. He gave it some effort, as it was stuck to the wall pretty damn tight, but he eventually was able to detach it.

"Geez," Ellie said. "What's wrong with its face?" She was referring to the fact that the Clicker had so much fungus growing out of its head that you couldn't make out any eyes.

"That's what years of infection'll do to you," Tess told her, shaking her head at the corpse.

"So what, are they…blind?" Ellie asked.

"Sort of," I answered for Tess. "They see using sound."

"Like bats?"

"Like bats," Tess answered. "If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you."

"If they get a hold of you, it's an instant kill," I added.

"Shit," Ellie said.

"This whole damn building feels like it's about to fall apart," Joel said as we progressed into areas where the ceiling was increasingly getting lower. As if to prove his point, the building began to shift, causing a few abandoned chairs to move.

"Totally cool. Everything is totally cool," Ellie said, trying to comfort herself.

"It is," I said. "Don't worry." In an effort to comfort her, I took hold of her hand, and a feeling that I could only describe as electricity shot through me. I jerked my head to look down at my hand, and gasped at the feeling, stopping in my tracks. So much for simply ignoring it. To my surprise, Ellie gasped at the same time I did, and we locked eyes with each other, both unsure of what to do.

"Did you…?" I asked her, deciding to be the brave one.

"Uh huh," she nodded. We both felt that? What the fuck was going on?

I wanted to talk to her more to see if I could figure out what that feeling was, but Tess called to us from up ahead. "Hey, you two! Let's go!"

We let go of each other's hands, and rushed over to Tess and Joel, who were waiting for us at another door. When we reached them, Joel pushed the door open, causing a chair to crash loudly against the concrete floor. He walked quickly through the door, with all of us behind him, when Tess suddenly looked to her left, screaming, "Joel!"

We all looked over to see a Clicker running right at him at high speeds, letting out a mixture of clicks and screeches. It took him by surprise, managing to knock him on his back, trying to claw at him. Joel grabbed it by the throat, and tried to throw it off him, but it was no use. However, Tess kicked it off of him, and it was hurled to the side, on its back. He rolled over, giving Tess the room she needed to step on its chest with her foot, keeping it pinned to the ground, and to shoot it twice in the head with her gun. Its clicks stopped instantly.

Tess lifted her foot off of it, and her eyes met Joel's. "Thanks," he said to her.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"It's nothin'," he said. "Let's just get the hell outta here."

I thought that was going to be our only run-in with Clickers, but as always, I was wrong. The next one was up on another level of the building, but unlike the first one, it didn't see us, so we were able to hide. Thinking on her feet, Tess was able to throw a bottle and divert its attention so that it went in the opposite direction from where we were, allowing us to get around it. We left the building without many more incidents, and made our way into a subway station, which was teaming with Clickers as well as Runners. It seemed that this place wasn't as abandoned as I thought. The trouble was, infected wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

As we made our way through the subway, Ellie stayed close to me, even grabbing my hand when Tess took out a Clicker nearby. Like before, electricity shot through me, but this time, it didn't bother me. In fact, it made things slightly easier for me, as I didn't have to always check behind me to make sure she was still there. Her touch made her presence known.

Once out of the subway, Ellie said to us, "you guys are pretty good at this stuff," referring to the way we handled the infected.

"It's called luck, and it's gonna run out," Joel said.

"Nah, we're just really ballsy," I said, making her smile. It irritated me that Joel wasn't very nice to her. I didn't understand what his problem was, but those kinds of questions could wait. Right now, we had more important things to do.

We continued on, and after several run-ins with infected, we paused for a minute so that Joel, Tess, and I could reload our guns. Ellie watched me load my gun, specifically, as if intrigued only when I did it. I made a mental note to ask her about it later. That's when Tess started talking to her again, "So, Marlene thinks you're immune?" I listened to them quietly, intrigued.

"Well, that's what she believes," Ellie said to her.

"How were you bitten? I mean, you must've been somewhere you shouldn't've to find an infected in the zone."

"Yeah, I…I sneak out a little," Ellie answered. "I was in this military boarding school."

"Sneak out?"

"You know, explore the city. I was in the mall when I ran into the infected." That shocked me.

"That place is completely off limits," Tess said, saying what I was thinking. "How the hell did you get in there?"

"I…had my ways," she said. "Anyways, one of those – what you guys call Runners – bit me. And that was that."

"Shit," I said.

"I see," Tess added. "Were you with Marlene when you were bitten?"

"No. I went to her for help afterwards."

"Knowing her, I'm surprised she didn't shoot you."

"She almost did," Ellie chucked. "I hope she's alright."

"I told you. She's gonna be fine." She added to all of us, let's keep moving."


	10. Chapter 10: Ballsy

_Chapter 10: Ballsy_

I didn't know how long we were moving, or even in what direction we were going in. I also didn't know how many infected we killed. I didn't care either, as long as we got to the capital building in the end. I didn't worry much about time, since Tess and Joel seemed to have a good handle on where we were going. I just moved alongside Ellie, and I wanted to get there for her sake.

That is, until we got separated from Joel. We were traveling through a dilapidated building, in which many of the doorways had parts of the ceiling crashed down, blocking the way. In one place in particular, it was impossible for us to simply hop over the obstacle like we normally would, so Joel lifted the fallen pieces high enough for the rest of us to crawl underneath it to the other side. We would've grabbed hold of it ourselves so that he could crawl through, but as soon as the three of us were through, more parts of the ceiling collapsed, trapping Joel and us on either sides of the doorway.

We could barely see him with through the pieces, but he did hear him scream to us, "I'm alive! I'll make my way around to you." I was relieved that he was alright, but I didn't expect anything less. Joel was tough, and I barely ever saw him get hurt. He then left the doorway to try to find a path around to us.

There was a moment of ease between the three of us where we were left in the dark, the only light coming from our flashlights. We just looked at each other, the only sound we made coming from our heavy breathing. In that moment, no one needed to talk. It felt kind of nice. However, it didn't last long. In response to hearing the loud crash of the ceiling, a distinctive clicking sound reached my ears.

"Look, they're here," Tess said, as we all looked down the hallway we were in, and saw two Clickers coming right at us. "Run, run!"

She didn't have to tell us twice. I grabbed hold of Ellie's hand in a protective grip, and took off down the hallway with Tess. We were in an area that was very similar to a maze, as all of the rooms were connected to one another, and all the doors were open. We ran in the same direction for a few feet, then split apart, hoping to separate the two Clickers, making them easier to kill. Our plan worked; Tess went off on her own with one Clicker, leaving Ellie and I to defend ourselves against the other. I quickly lead her to a small room, where I let go of her hand, and we ran to opposite ends of the room. The Clicker stood in the middle of the room for what seemed like an eternity, just staring in our general directions, trying to decide which of us to go after. Ellie was completely motionless, but it made no difference. It knew where she was.

I barely moved either until the thought occurred to me that if it chose to go after her, she was unarmed. She'd be killed instantly without any hope of defending herself. With this in mind, I reached into the back of my pants quickly, but quietly, grabbing hold of the handle of my revolver, and pulling it out. Mistake. The metal of the gun made a loud noise from the friction of rubbing against my jeans. The noise caused the Clicker to decide. It looked directly at me, and with a loud shriek, it ran towards me. I took aim at its head, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. No shot was fired. I tried again, and the same thing happened. Nothing. That's when I realized an even bigger mistake. I'd forgot to reload my gun. At that point, I knew it was over. Clickers were an instant kill. This wasn't how I expected to go out, over something so stupid. It was a fool's death. Maybe Ellie would tweak the story for me, and say I went out with a blaze of glory. That'd be nice of sure; it would surely make Tess proud. I didn't scream; I didn't move. I just for it to reach me, only it didn't.

The Clicker couldn't have been more than a few feet away from me when I saw Ellie hop on its back, knife in hand, and begin stabbing its neck repeatedly. It shrieked again, and moved backwards a few steps, thrashing around, trying to get her off of it. However, it was no use, as she had a death grip on it. She just kept stabbing until the Clicker faltered, blood and various fluids flying, crashed to the ground with a thud, and stopped moving. It'd fallen on its stomach, so all Ellie had to do was stand up. Blood covered her knife completely, as well as parts of her shirt and face. She looked down at her knife, and noticing she blood, she wiped it on her jeans before putting it back in her pocket before looking at me like what'd she'd just done was nothing.

I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. Not only did she not hesitate to kill it, but she also did it with a simple pocket knife, which is something I'd never seen done before. Usually it took a shiv (a weapon made of scissors and a knife) to kill one, but here was this girl, showing me how it was really done. In addition to this, she'd just saved my life, which also made me feel bad. All this time, I thought was completely innocent, never having killed anything, but that proved to me that she was stronger and more ballsy than I'd given her credit for.

"What?" she asked me, giving me a small smile, and walking up to where I was standing.

"That was…" I began.

"What?"

"…amazing." I couldn't come up with a better word to use, though I knew there was probably one out there.

She shrugged, "it was nothing."

"Bullshit it was nothing, you just saved my life, Ellie," I said. "I was out of bullets. I was dead there for a second because I was an idiot who didn't reload my gun." I put my gun back in my pants, making a mental note to reload it soon.

"You totally just showed me what the fuck was up," I praised. "Where did you learn to do that with a _pocket knife_?"

"I went to military school, remember?" she said. "They teach you shit like that there."

"Well, I'm very impressed."

Ellie looked to the side of me, her face turning a light shade of red at my praise. I took her chin in my hand, and moved it so that she was looking at me. I thought she'd object to me doing it, but she didn't.

"Now who's blushing?" I asked, my voice growing quiet; my heart pounding. The shade of red in her cheeks grew deeper as she took hold of my hand on her chin, and moved it so that it was at the level of our waists, in the space between us. Her eyes never left mine, and in the light of my flashlight, it looked as if the shades of green were dancing with the light.

"Now I just have to save your life one more time," she said, the volume of her voice matching mine. "Then we'll be even."

"Take your time."

We continued to look at each other, when we heard Tess come into the room, "hey, you guys okay?"

We let go of each other's hands, and looked at her. "We're fine," I said. "And Ellie killed the Clicker with a pocket knife."

At hearing this, Tess went over to the dead Clicker's body, and examined it, "wow, Ellie. I'm impressed. Pocket knife's a tough sell."

"Really, it was nothing," she said, trying to shrug it off.

"Don't be so modest," I said.

"Yeah, take all the praise you can get," Tess said, walking away from the Clicker. "God knows you won't get as much as you probably deserve."

"It's true," I agreed. Ellie simply nodded.

Suddenly, Joel rushed into the room too, "is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Tess answered, breathing heavily all of a sudden.

"You sure?" Joel asked her, a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah," she replied. "Just a bit winded. Let's keep moving, we're almost to the roof."

We followed her to a window, where we all hopped out onto a fire escape, which lead to the roof. It had stopped raining, and the sun was just rising over the horizon, making the landscape different shades of purple, blue, and white. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a sunrise so clearly, since we lived in a very crowded part of the city, and right in the middle of the horizon was the capital building.

"Where she is," Tess said, pointing to it, the sun gleaming off the golden dome roof. It was very close now. A pang of sadness welled up in me because I knew I wouldn't be able to spend much more time with Ellie. I think she could feel it too.

"Is it everything you'd hoped for?" Joel asked Ellie, referring to the fact that we were outside the quarantine zone, pleasantly surprising me. I didn't know if he was consciously being nice to her because he knew we were almost to the capital building, or he was genuinely curious. Whatever the case, he was talking to her, so I was proud of him.

"Jury's still out," Ellie answered him. "But, man…you can't deny the view." It was a sweet moment between the two of them, which Tess promptly interrupted, making us all move faster. I did notice Joel sneaking a quick glance at that damn broken watch of his, though, before he joined us.

"Look, we're almost done," Tess snapped to Joel. "Stay focused."

"Yes, ma'am," Joel said to her, a bit surprised at her harshness. I wondered why she was being bossy all of a sudden, but I didn't think too much of it, since she tended to get that way.

We reached the capital building in a shorter amount of time than I'd anticipated. It really was a sight to see, with the building seeming to tower over everything. An iron fence surrounded the area in front of the capital building, even though the road in front of it was now a giant, green pond. This was definitely a nicer part of the city at one point.

Upon looking at the pond, Ellie said, "umm, just so it's out there, I can't swim." I was kinda shocked at her confession, but then again, I also wasn't. I could swim, since Tess and my mom had made it a point to teach me, knowing I'd probably be dealing with water at some point in my life. However, Ellie probably never had to deal with deep water before, or someone who was willing to teach her for that matter.

Tess scoffed, "look, it looked like it's shallow on the right side. Follow me." Ellie broke away from my side, and followed her, while Joel and I just swam to the giant steps, leading up to the building. I paused on one of the bottom steps, waiting for Ellie. I was glad when she and Tess made it across okay. Tess and Joel began to quickly make their way up the stairs, but Ellie and I stayed behind for a second.

"Hey, Ellie?" I asked her.

"Yeah?" she looked at me.

"Whenever you're next in Boston, look me up, okay?"

She smiled, "you bet your ass I will. It shouldn't be too hard to find you, as you'll probably be running your own part of the Black Market by then."

I laughed, "yeah, probably, with the path Tess has me on."

"I have no doubt."

"And," I added. "I'll even teach you how to swim."

"Oh my god, fuck yeah!" Ellie said, laughing along with me. We then looked at each other for a second before Ellie wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight hug. I hadn't expected her to do that, but I hugged her back just as willingly.

"I'm gonna miss you," I said.

"I'm gonna miss you too," she said, as we let go of each other. "But remember what I said. This isn't good-bye forever. It's just for now, okay?"

I nodded, "you got it."

"Hey!" Tess called from the top of the stairs. "Get your asses up here!"

My friend and I gave each other one last smile before joining the others at the top of the stairs, and entering the capital building.


	11. Chapter 11: Just Fucking Go

_Chapter 11: Just Fucking Go_

We walked into the capital building as the sun finished rising. The rays of sun shone onto the marble floor, illuminating the dust particles that hung in the air, and creating pigments of light along the walls. Our feet clacked loudly on the floor, and even though the building hadn't had air conditioning in years, there was still a feeling of coldness in it.

Our eyes were immediately drawn to the two bodies of the Fireflies lying lifeless on the floor in front of us. Blood pooled around them and freckled the marble.

"No, no, no!" Tess cried, running to one of the bodies, searching it desperately, as if looking for something.

"What happens now?" Ellie asked in general, stepping to the side with me.

I didn't answer her. In fact I barely heard her. I didn't even move from my spot by the door. I was fixated on Tess. Apparently, Joel was too because as she searched the body, he carefully walked up to her, "what are you doing, Tess?"

"Oh God," I heard Tess say under her breath. "Maybe they…uh…maybe they had a map or…um…something to tell us where they were going." Her voice, like her actions, sounded desperate.

"How far are we gonna take this?" Joel asked her, already tired from all we'd done.

"As far as it needs to go," she said, her voice cracking. I didn't understand it. This was so unlike her, to be acting to desperately. Tess was a ruthless leader of the Black Market. She'd shoot a man dead before she'd ask his name. What made this situation so different?

She looked up at Ellie, "where was this lab of theirs?"

"She never said," Ellie told her. "She only mentioned it was someplace out West."

Joel, in an attempt to talk some sense, asked Tess in a calm voice, "what are we doing here? This is _not _us."

Tess stood, shaking her head, and looking him square in the eyes, and asked him in an accusing tone, "what do you know about us?" In a calmer voice, she added, "about me?"

"I know that you are smarter than _this_," Joel pointed to the body she was just searching.

"Really?" Tess asked provokingly. "Guess what, we're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way for a long time."

"Tess, where is all this coming from?" I asked, but they both ignored me.

"No. We are survivors!" Joel raised his tone.

"This is our chance–," she tried.

"It is _over_, Tess!" he was screaming at her now.

We froze. I'd never heard Joel scream at her before. I knew he would raise his voice at her, especially when they would fight, but he'd never outright _yelled_ at her.

"Now we tried," He added, in a lower tone. "Let's just go home."

"I'm not…I'm not going anywhere," Tess's voice was cracking again, as if she might cry. "This is my last stop."

"What?" Joel asked, raising his arms, not understanding what she meant. My heart began to beat faster from anxiety.

"Our luck had to run out sooner or later," she turned away from him as if she couldn't bear to look at him.

"What are you going on about–?" Joel reached out to take her arm, but she quickly pulled away from him.

"No, don't!" she cried. "Don't touch me," her voice was almost a whisper.

"Holy shit," Ellie spoke, pausing for a brief moment. "She's infected."

My stomach dropped to the floor. I just stared at Tess, not wanting to believe it, but not brave enough to speak either. She looked at the floor as Ellie spoke, then up at Joel when she stopped.

"Joel…" she began as he took a few steps away from her. That's when it hit me that Ellie was right. My beloved aunt who couldn't be blown away if a bomb went off…was infected.

"Let me see it," Joel said.

"I didn't mean for this–"

"Show it to me," he demanded.

With a look of irritation on her face, Tess pulled back the collar of her shirt, her eyes never leaving Joel. On the right side of her neck, and reaching down to her collarbone, was a huge, bumpy, red patch of skin where she was bitten. It was all the more real to me now.

"Oh, Christ," Joel said.

"Oops, right?" she asked him, sarcastically.

"Tess," I whispered, allowing myself to speak for the first time. Now everything made sense. Her bitchiness, her desperation, everything. A feeling of great sadness swept through me; my chest began to ache.

Her eyes left Joel, and fixed themselves on me for the first time. I didn't know what kind of look I had on my face, but I saw a shift in her eyes. It was as if her heart broke in that instant.

As if she couldn't look at me anymore, she shifted her eyes to Ellie, walking quickly over to her, "give me your arm."

She pulled back Ellie's sleeve when she reached her, revealing the healed over, skin-toned bite marks.

"This was three weeks," she said, looking at Joel again. "I was bitten an hour ago, and it's already worse."

She walked over to Joel, dragging Ellie with her, "this is _fucking real_, Joel."

"You need to get this girl to Tommy's," she added. "He used to run with this crew. He'll know where to go."

That's when I realized something else. Tess was holding on to some kind of hope. She now truly believed that Ellie held the cure to the plague on mankind. She felt that if she could get Ellie to the Fireflies, then all her previous wrongdoings would be forgiven. She was a much deeper person than I'd realized.

"No, no, no, that was _your _crusade," Joel said. "I am not doing that." He pointed at Ellie as if she was an object.

"Yes you are," she cried. She moved close enough to him so that their faces were almost touching, and she raised her hands so that they were almost touching his chin. "Look, there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me."

She moved her hands away from him, and pointed at Ellie, "so you _get_ her to Tommy's." She then pointed at me, "and you take _fucking _care of her." Her teeth were gritted, demanding this one last request of him. That was the only time she'd ever referred to me as a kid. My heart broke even more.

The sound of tires from outside broke the moment.

"Shit," I whispered, looking out the window as Tess rushed over to it. Military vehicles were coming up to the front of the capital building, soldiers hopping out of them. They waited for us.

"They're here," Tess said, turning to us again, and pulling out her gun.

"Dammit," Joel said.

"I can buy you some time, but you have to run."

"What?" I asked.

"You want us to just leave you here?" Ellie asked.

"Yes."

"No!" I cried, running over to her, my body beginning to shake. "I can't…I can't just leave you here to die, Tess!" I felt tears filling my eyes, blurring my vision, and my voice sounded cracked and strange. I didn't recognize the things I was doing. This was so unlike me, and yet it felt exactly like me.

"Kara, listen to me," she demanded, grabbing my face with both hands, pressing her forehead against mine, staring into my eyes. I was shaking like a leaf, trying not to cry. "I know I made you grow up too fast, and I'm sorry. But now you have to be strong for me. This is the hardest thing I'm ever going to do, and I can't do it if you're not strong."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and closed my eyes, fighting back the tears. I willed myself to stop shaking, and nodded against her forehead. I knew I had to be strong for her, but I didn't know how I'd be able to. I opened my eyes again. "I have to do this," she said. "I don't have a choice. You _do_. You are _not _going to die like this. You are going to live, and you're going to make me proud today just like you have every day of your life. Do you hear me?"

I almost lost it when she told me she was proud of me directly. The one time she ever said she was proud of me, she was leaving me, and there was nothing I could do to help her. I nodded again, separating our foreheads. She let go of my face. I looked over at Joel and Ellie, who just stood there, watching us.

"There is no way that–," Joel piped in.

"I will _not _turn into one of those things," Tess said, stepping away from me, towards Joel. He just looked into her eyes, just as I'd done. "C'mon," she begged. "Make this easy for me."

"I can fight–," he began to say, but she stopped him.

"No, just go!" she shoved him away, and it was as if he snapped out of a trance. He shook his head, still looking at her.

"Just fucking go," she whispered to no one.

Joel paused for a moment, and said, "Kara…Ellie…"

"I'm sorry…I…I didn't mean for this," Ellie said.

"Get a move on," he said to the both of us.

As I began to walk away, Ellie reached over and gripped my hand tightly in hers, and began to lead me instead of me leading her, the way it'd been all day. It was as if she knew I was still trying not to fall apart, and she felt like she had to step up for me. Whatever her reasons, I was appreciative because at this moment, I desperately needed her. But more importantly, I needed Tess, but she was already gone.

I glanced one last time at the last family member I had left in the world. We made eye contact, her eyes filling with tears, before I turned away from her for good.


	12. Chapter 12: What You Say Goes

_Chapter 12: What You Say Goes_

Ellie lead me through the double-doors in the back of the room where we left Tess. When we passed through the doors, Joel was already there, and slammed the door shut. The noise echoed through my mind, and made my vision blurry.

"What the fuck?" Ellie said, her hand still firmly clasped to mine. "I can't believe we just did that."

"Stop," Joel told her flatly.

After hearing the last part of what Ellie said, my breathing was becoming faster until I was almost hyperventilating. Ellie stood in front of me, wrapped her free arm around my waist, and squeezed it lightly in a comforting hug, "I'm sorry, Kara. That was insensitive of me to say."

My breathing returned to a somewhat normal rate at her touch, and I touched my hand lightly against her back, but I dared not do anything more. There was still a chance that I could fall apart right here, and now was not the time.

"Stay close to me," Joel said, breaking our moment. "We have to move."

We rushed up a flight of stairs on one side of the room, and as we did, we heard the front doors of the capital building burst open followed by a rapid series of gunshots. I swallowed hard and squeezed Ellie's hand to keep my feelings in check. I must've been cutting off circulation in her hand, but she didn't seem to mind. Whenever I squeezed her hand, she squeezed mine back just as hard in reassurance.

Joel led us to an area that looked down at the front room of the capital building where we'd first entered. There was a broken wooden railing along the floor we were on, which felt very much like a balcony. We could see everything that was going on in that room. Three men were marching through the front doors, guns raised. Several lifeless bodies were scattered around the floor now. One of them was Tess.

I almost completely lost it when I saw her.

"Oh my god!" I cried, probably louder than I should've. "Tess!"

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from making any more noise; my vision became blurry with the tears I'd been holding back. I shut my eyes tight to keep from crying. I began to hyperventilate again, and my knees gave out. I would've fallen to the floor had Ellie not been there to catch me.

"Ellie, take her," I barely heard Joel instruct.

Everything after that was a blur. I could feel Ellie holding me, and I could feel that we were moving, but Tess was all I could think about. I'd never seen so much blood around her before. She was always able to stay remarkably clean with everything she did. She'd looked just so…lifeless. I never thought in a million years that she'd die from a gunshot. I always imagined her coming out on top when it came to things like that. At least she was able to live out one wish; she didn't become one of _them_.

Awareness came to me in short bursts. It came for a brief moment when I heard Joel telling me to put on my mask. I shoved it on hastily, and looked around at the green air. Joel had his on also, but we both noticed that Ellie wasn't wearing one.

"Why aren't you wearing a mask?" Joel asked her.

"I wasn't lying to you," she simply told him. I think he finally believed her at that moment, and although I had believed her from the beginning, it still was incredible to see her without a mask like that. I had a feeling she was full of surprises that I hadn't yet discovered.

Time went away from me again, and came back when we had to go through water but I wasn't aware of what was going on, or where we were going. All I knew was that Ellie never left my side, and that her hand never let go of mine.

Full awareness only came when the sun hit my face. We'd made our way outside, but the sun was an unwelcome presence to me. The sun shouldn't be shining on a day like this. I pulled my mask off, and I let it drop to the floor.

"Ellie, please," I begged, quietly asking her to let go of my hand. As if she could read my mind, she let go.

I staggered my way to some bushes on the side of the entrance, and fell on the ground in heaps of the tears that I finally felt safe enough to release. My entire body began to shake with sobs, and I wailed with grief despite myself. I realized I was making a scene, but at that moment, I didn't care. Tess was dead. I needed this.

I felt a strong hand touching my back, as if trying to comfort me. It felt too large to be Ellie's, so it must've been Joel's, which was interesting to me because he'd never done anything like that before with me. I didn't ask any questions, though. I was too busy sobbing to even get the words out.

"Hey…look, um," I heard Ellie say from behind me. "About Tess…"

She didn't say anything more because as soon as she said my aunt's name, I threw up into the bushes. I hadn't eaten anything that day, so it was more like a small amount of wretched tasting bile, followed by multiple dry heaves. I felt Joel's hands holding back my hair away from my face as I heaved.

"How about you don't mention Tess," Joel said to her. "Ever."

Ellie didn't respond, and when I was done heaving, Joel let go of my hair, and I sat down a few feet away from the bushes, breathing through my mouth as the tears kept spilling in small amounts. "Gross," I said.

"Here," Joel was squatting down next to me, pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack, and offered it to me. "Swish first."

"Yes, boss," I began to feel a little better. I took the bottle, and gulped in some water, swishing it around in my mouth to get the taste of bile out of my mouth before spitting that into the bushes. I then took a few drinks of it to get hydrated.

"This too," he took out a granola bar, and handed it to me.

"Where in the hell did you get this?" the tears had stopped finally, so I looked him in the eye. Ellie squatted down next to me.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Just eat it." I didn't really know how to feel about this. He'd never acted this…fatherly…towards me, even though he'd been around for most of my life. Sure, he'd treated me like I was a kid instead of an adult, but he always let Tess make the decisions when it came to me. I guessed this was his way of doing what Tess asked of him – to take care of me.

I was hungry, so I took it and broke the granola bar in half, offering one piece to Ellie, "here. You need to eat too."

"Not as much as you," she said, refusing.

"You need to keep your strength up, Ellie," I said, weakly.

She hesitated before taking it, and we both ate out pieces in a few seconds.

"Okay, here's how things are gonna play out," Joel said, switching gears to become more authoritative, once we finished eating. "You," –he pointed at Ellie–, "don't tell anyone about your…condition. They'll either think you're crazy, or they'll kill you."

Ellie nodded.

"Also, you _both _do what I say when I say it."

"Joel, I can take care of myself–," I started.

"We clear?" Joel interrupted, eyeing me.

"Sure," Ellie answered. I nodded.

"Repeat it," Joel demanded.

"Jesus Christ, Joel," I said.

"_Repeat it_," he demanded.

Okay, now he was beginning to get on my nerves. I was about to say something, but Ellie butted in before I could, "what you say goes."

Joel pondered for a moment before saying, "good."

The three of us stood up then, and I had to admit that I felt a little better, but my body disagreed with me. I almost fell down again, but Ellie caught me like she had before.

"She's still weak, Joel," Ellie said to him.

"No really," I tried. "I'm fine."

"Don't bullshit me."

Joel looked at me for a minute before saying, "now, there's a town a few miles north of here. There's a fella there that still owes me some favors. Good chance he could get us a car."

"Bill?" I questioned weakly.

"Yep."

"Fuck sake, Joel, not that fat bastard."

"Listen, we need a car, and he can get us one," Joel said, "assuming you don't open your mouth."

I looked away from him, but he kept talking. "We can take it slow until you get your strength back up, alright? We're in no hurry."

I looked back at him, and at the genuinely caring look he had on his face. I'd never seen this side of him before, and I wondered how it would pan out for us. I nodded in agreement, and Joel began walking, while Ellie held onto me as I walked, wrapping her arm around my waist. I rested my head on top of hers, allowing my eyes to droop.

We walked along the road for a while, and as we walked, the world around us began to turn into woods and cliffs. I'd gotten my strength back at this point, so I was walking on my own, but Ellie was always close to me. Eventually, we deviated from the road, and began to walk through the woods. A shortcut, Joel had said.

"Wow," Ellie said, watching the sun rising through the trees.

"What?" Joel asked.

"Nothing. It's just that I've never seen anything like this, that's all."

"You mean the woods?"

"Yeah," she said, "never walked through the woods."

"Me neither," I agreed, looking around at the plethora of rock formations and rugged trees. A small creek flowed in different places, and the sun shined through the trees, causing freckles of light on the ground. It was quite possibly the most beautiful sight I'd seen that wasn't in a picture. All I ever knew was the city.

"It's kinda cool," Ellie finished with awe.

"It's beautiful," I added. To me, the scenery was indeed beautiful, but I also heard birds chirping, and different kinds of bugs buzzing around. A large white bird flew overhead, making me smile. There were never any animals in the city, and to me, that was the most amazing part about this. At heart, I was a true animal lover.

"Why don't you just take me back to Marlene?" Ellie asked, and her question seemed to make the landscape less beautiful.

"If she was up to the task, why'd she drop you off on us?" Joel asked her in return.

"Well, maybe she's better now." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did Ellie seriously want to go back to Marlene? Away from me? It was one thing when we were just doing a job, but since that was over, I honestly didn't want to be without her. Not just yet anyway.

"Kid, I don't mean to upset you, but your friend's chances of survival weren't too high to begin with."

"She's a lot tougher than you think."

"It don't matter," Joel said morbidly. "'Cause I doubt I could get either one of us back into the city in one piece. Trust me, I wish there was some other option."

"Well, I don't," I piped up. "I like having her with us."

Ellie smiled at me, "I like being with you too." I think she was aiming that statement more at me than at Joel.

Eventually, we came to a large chain length fence at the edge of some trees. Next to it was a small building, and Joel was leading us up to it. Before we reached it, however, Ellie stopped.

"Woah, look," she said, looking around.

"What?" I asked.

"Fireflies," she said, smiling. "I mean, real fireflies." All around us, small, moving flashes of light began to surround us. I'd never seen these in person before, and I smiled right along with her.

"Aren't they cool, Kara?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, fixing my gaze on her. The sun highlighted her face perfectly in the growing sunshine, and her eyes seemed to mingle perfectly with earth tones of our surroundings. She looked right back at me, and I could feel some kind of moment between us happening. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was kind of like a draw; like a force that was pulling me toward her. She leaned towards me slightly, as if she could feel the pull too, but the moment was interrupted by Joel, who was already at the building, calling us.

We snapped out of the trance immediately.

"Sorry," Ellie said, looking at the ground. "I lost myself for a sec."

"Don't be," I told her with a smile. Ellie gave me a tiny smile in return before grabbing my arm playfully and leading me to Joel.


	13. Chapter 13: Traps

_Chapter 13:Traps_

"How you holding up?" Ellie asked me quietly as we waited on the ground for Joel to place a wooden plank between two small buildings so we could get on the other side of the fence.

Since Joel wasn't listening, I felt like I could talk about it. As long as her name wasn't mentioned, I felt I would be fine. "I'm still not anywhere close to okay," I told her. "But I'm doing the only thing I can do – get over it."

"I don't think you need to do that just yet," she responded. "I think you're allowed to grieve her."

"I am. I'm just doing it quietly for Joel's sake."

"I see," Ellie said, looking to the ground again, probably feeling guilty for what happened.

"It wasn't your fault," I said blandly. I really felt that way. If it hadn't happened today, who's to say it wouldn't happen tomorrow, or in a month from now? It didn't make me any less sad, though.

"Thank you for saying that."

"Anytime."

"Alright," Joel said. "Come on up."

As Joel had done, we hopped up on an old, covered dumpster next to one building, and were then able to hoist ourselves onto the roof. Planks always made me nervous because I was never sure if they could hold our weight. Joel went first, to my relief, and he made it to the other side of the fence without incident, so I felt safe going across myself.

When all three of us were safely on the ground on the other side of the fence, we made our way toward a small patch of buildings, which obviously marked the beginning of this place we called "Bill's Town" since that asshole was probably the only normal person who lived there these days. The main street of the town was blocked off by fences and gates which were all locked in some way or another. We found one that wasn't locked with a chain, but it did have a pipe through it.

Joel tried to open it all the same. "Shit, it's jammed from the other side," he said once it didn't open.

"Here, boost me up," Ellie said, looking up at the height of the fence. It was tall enough that Joel couldn't get over it, but if he boosted her up, she could easily open the gate.

"No, that's not such a good idea," Joel protested.

"Well, we can't boost you up. How else are we gonna open it?"

"Kara can do it."

"Ellie wants to, Joel," I said. "Really, I see no harm in it." It was true; I could do it just as easily as Ellie, but she showed so much enthusiasm for it that it seemed almost a crime to not let her.

Joel sighed, "alright." He went over to the fence, and assumed the same position he did whenever he used to lift Tess and I over walls. "Gimme your foot," he told her, hoisting her up over the fence with ease. "Just open it. Nothing else."

"Sure thing," Ellie said, pulling herself over the top of the fence, and dropping to the ground. She pulled at the rusted pipe on the gate, and pulled it out with ease. She opened the gate for us, saying, "ta-da!" I giggled at her.

"Good job," Joel said, making me smile. I was glad to see that he was finally starting to warm up to her.

"Thank you," Ellie said, proud of herself.

When we came out onto the main street, it looked like the picturesque small town I'd seen in books. Shops lined either side of the cracked road, all joined together. The only gaps in the buildings belonged to alley-ways. All the shops were long abandoned, and all the signs and windows were fading and caked with dirt. In different circumstances, it would probably seem sad. Now, it was just a place that looked just like every other place.

As we walked through down the road, Ellie piped up, "so, let's say we get a car from this buddy of yours. Then what?"

"Trust me," I told her. "He is Joel's buddy. Not mine."

Ignoring my comment, Joel answered, "After that, I guess we go find Tommy."

"Marlene said he's your brother?" Ellie asked.

"And more importantly, he was a Firefly. He'll know where to take you."

"Have you ever met him?" Ellie asked me.

"Nope," I said. "He lives somewhere out West. Wyoming, I think."

"That's right," Joel said. "That's why we need a car."

Along the main road, we began to see red signs everywhere. They seemed to be government-issued. Ellie and I stopped by one and read it.

"'Mandatory Evacuation,'" Ellie read out loud.

"Evacuate to where?" I asked Joel, who waited a few feet away.

"Where do you think?" he asked. "Quarantine zone. See, some places got a head's up before the Infection showed up. Most didn't." He added the last part grimly.

"Wow," I said. "Must've been hard. Just…leaving all their stuff behind like that."

"That ain't the hard part," Joel said, continuing down the street.

We started to go down one of the alleyways to get farther into the back ways of the town.

"Does anyone else live here besides your buddy?" Ellie asked.

"Far as I know, it's just Bill," Joel answered.

Suddenly, as we walked down the alley, a Clicker emerged, pulsing. He spotted us because we really had no time to stop, but he only made it about halfway to us because he ran through what looked like some kind of trip wire that was low to the ground. It set of an explosion, which left it in pieces. It caught Ellie off guard, but Joel and I was used to this shit.

"Woah, Nelly," Ellie said after the explosion happened. "What the hell was that?"

"That would be one of Bill's traps," Joel said as we skirted our way around the pieces of Clicker, and continued on our way.

"You're friend a bit paranoid maybe?"

"As a motherfucker," I said. I couldn't remember how many times Bill would come to our deals, acting insane, and making sure we all weren't infected. The man was nuts. Plain and simple.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Ellie pressed.

"Well, he helped us smuggle stuff into the city," Joel explained. "He…he knows how to find things."

"Well, let's hope we don't blow up trying to find him."

"Ain't that the god's truth," I said.

"Just watch your step, and you'll be fine," Joel said more to Ellie than me. He knew he didn't really have to look after me.

Thus began a kind of search party for idiotically paranoid Bill. We searched through buildings, and back ways, all the while picking up supplies as we went. I was beginning to see that he wasn't exactly a "neat and tidy" kind of guy. Whenever we went along the back ways of the town, we would see messages like "no tresspassers" and "I'm armed" written in spray paint on the walls of buildings. It was kind of funny to me, actually. We also saw all kinds of traps, and the victims of said traps. One man in particular had two arrows stuck in his back.

"Bill good with a bow?" Ellie asked as we passed.

"I reckon he is," Joel said, pulling the arrows out of the man.

"The hell are you doing?" I asked him.

"We can use these," he said, analyzing them. "They're still good."

"And how are we supposed to use one without a bow?"

"There's one right over there," he pointed to an area of the wall. Sure enough, there was a bow leaning up against it.

"Oh," I said as the three of us walked over to it. Joel picked it up, testing the draw string.

"Let me use that," Ellie said. "I'm a pretty good shot with that thing."

"How 'bout we just leave this kind of stuff to Kara and me," Joel told her.

"Well, we could all be armed," she pleaded. "Cover each other."

"I don't think so," he said, handing me the bow along with the arrows. "Here."

I hadn't expected that. It was always Tess who gave me new weapons. He never wanted any part in that. I wasn't about to ask questions though, so I took it with a "thanks." He continued on ahead of us, and when I noticed Ellie's annoyed face, I said quietly to her, "I'll let you use it. Don't worry." That seemed to cheer her up a little as I attached the bow to my backpack. We caught up with Joel, and continued the search.

I hadn't realized how far back the town went until we went on for what seemed like an eternity. Joel took the time to warn Ellie about Bill, saying, "now listen. Bill ain't exactly the most stable of individuals. So when we get there, you let me do the talkin'. You understand?"

"I understand," Ellie said.

"We gotta be clear on this. He…he don't take too kindly to strangers."

"Alright," Ellie said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"That goes for you too, Kara," Joel said.

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, annoyed slightly. I didn't know if I would be able to keep quiet though because he annoyed me so much, but I figured I could try. I wasn't concerned about myself, since I knew I could handle him, but he didn't know Ellie, and like Joel had said, he didn't like strangers. I wasn't worried that Ellie couldn't handle herself; I was worried that Bill would shoot first and ask questions later. I didn't feel like shooting him today, so I hoped that he would behave himself.

"He's a good guy," Joel continued talking to Ellie. "He just needs some time to warm up to you, that's all."

"He's like a fucking dog," I told her. "I'm still waiting on him to warm up to me."

"You're gonna be waiting awhile on that one," Joel said.

"Yeah, I know."

As we continued our search, we eventually came to a building that looked a bit like a warehouse. We walked through carefully, but when we went through a door to an area that was mostly gutted, with all the windows and doors busted open, we heard a loud banging sound, and ahead of us, a refrigerator fell to the ground. I didn't know what to make of it until Joel flew foot-first into the air, and hung there upside down, by his foot. It occurred to me that when we opened the door, we set off some kind of trap, which had a rope that wrapped itself around Joel's leg.

"Oh shit!" Ellie and I both screamed as it happened.

"Goddamn it, Bill!" Joel screamed, swinging back and forth on the rope.

"Here, we got you," Ellie and I said, going over to him, and steadying him so that he wouldn't swing anymore.

"What just happened?" Ellie asked.

"Another one of Bill's stupid traps!" Joel cried, looking around. "There, the fridge looks like a counterweight."

Ellie and I rushed over to the fridge, and hopped on top of it. "Cut the rope, and it'll bring me down!" Joel called to us.

"Okay," Ellie called back as we took out our knives and began cutting at the rope. I didn't get the chance to cut long, as I began to hear the faint noises of infected, growing louder. I knew they must be coming toward where we were, and I knew that Ellie was unarmed, and Joel probably wouldn't be able to aim, much less protect both Ellie and I while he was hanging upside down like that, so I hopped down from the fridge onto the floor, switching my knife to my revolver.

"You keep working at it, Ellie," I called up to her.

"Okay," she called down.

"You hear them, Joel?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"I'm gonna help you," I said. "Just don't fucking shoot me, alright?"

I heard him chuckle, "okay."


	14. Chapter 14: Favors

_Chapter 14:Favors_

"Kara, what the fuck are you doing?" Ellie called down to me amongst the cries of the Infected.

I made a point to reload my revolver because I knew things could get ugly, and I wanted as many bullets available to me as possible. "You just keep working on that knot, Ellie," I called back up to her.

"Be fucking careful."

"Always am."

The infected came at us in small packs. I was well aware that our chances were increasing all the time since I was on the ground, and could therefore aim without swinging around like Joel. I didn't worry about him shooting me. I knew that if he saw an infected too close to me, he was confident that I'd take care of it. I knew he'd only shoot one close to me if I was being overpowered by one. I did my best to not allow that.

It was like a dance. I moved around the refrigerator, keeping the infected away from Ellie, who was cutting at the rope hastily, cursing at it all the while, and making a distinctive slicing noise with her knife. It was strange; fighting them made me feel better about what had happened that day. With them, I was able to let out all my frustration, all my anger. Every bullet I shot released the pain inside me, and I felt good about what I was doing.

Even though Joel and I fought tirelessly at the infected while Ellie worked, I shot quick glances at the rope from time to time, and it wasn't coming any closer to being cut. It must've been tougher than we thought. In addition, they just kept coming, and as larger numbers came, it was harder for me to defend Ellie alone. This became apparent when one slammed into the side of the refrigerator, knocking it on its side, and sending Joel even higher into the air. Ellie slammed into the concrete ground, sending small whirls of dust everywhere.

"Ellie!" I cried as I helped her up.

"I'm okay," she said, crouching+ back down on the ground, getting back to the rope, and making that slicing noise again. I made myself a guard in front of her as she worked, and it was easier to defend her, but the infected just kept coming, and I was running out of bullets.

It was beginning to seem pretty bleak until I saw a particularly large figure in the corner of my eye run up to where Joel was, and release the rope using some kind of hidden lever, sending him falling to the floor. Bill.

"Ellie, he's down!" I cried out to her, still defending her, and facing the opposite direction as her.

"What?" she cried, stopping with the rope. I didn't see her do it, but the slicing noise stopped. I couldn't answer her, for I was being bombarded with infected again. I also couldn't see what was going on with Joel, but the next thing I knew, he was running out of the building with Bill, yelling at me to get moving. I didn't get the chance to get a good look at Bill, but I did see that he was wearing a gas mask.

"Ellie, get up," I called, turning around to pull at her arm, helping her up. "We gotta move."

She shot up from the ground like a rocket, and the two of us followed the men in hot pursuit. Bill lead us through what seemed like a maze of buildings and cars, while all the while infected were coming at us from the woodworks, following us. We didn't even try to shoot at them. We were just trying to get _away_. As always, Ellie didn't deviate from my side. It was as if she trusted me to protect her more than Joel, and I suspected she was right to do so. I had a more protective nature towards her than Joel did, even though he was making great strides.

We eventually ran through a door attached to a brick building, and Joel and Bill slammed the door behind us. I could still hear the ominous cries and the poundings of the infected on the other side of the door. For a moment, we were allowed to breathe.

"Man," Ellie said, breathing heavily. "That was close."

I was finally able to get a good look at Bill. Along with the gas mask, he was also wearing what looked like a radioactive jumpsuit that you'd see in the movies, and matching gloves. The suit made him look infinitely fatter than he already was, and to me, he looked completely ridiculous.

Ellie turned to Bill, and in an effort to be friendly, said, "uhh…thanks for the heroics and all."

Bill didn't say anything to her, but stalked right up to her, and pulled off his gas mask as he reached her, placing his hands on his hips. I was on high alert.

"Ellie," she said, holding her arm out for him to shake. Wishful thinking. Instead of shaking her hand, he grabbed hold of her wrist, pulled out a set of handcuffs, and attached one to her wrist.

"Hey, what are you –?" Ellie cried. "Joel? Kara?"

"Bill?" Joel called to him as he pulled Ellie to a nearby pipe, and attached the other handcuff to it.

"Get away from her!" I screamed, jumping on Bill's back, wrapping my wrms aound his neck tightly, and causing him to back away from her with a cry. Like many times that day, I instantly wanted to protect her, and jumping on his was the best way I could come up with.

"Kara, don't!" I heard Joel say, but I wasn't going to pay attention to him. Ellie was my only thought. Although I was successful in getting Bill away from her, I hadn't planned out what would happen once I got that accomplished. Sensing my hesitation, Bill took hold of my arms around his neck, holding them in place, and moved quickly so that I didn't know where we were. Without warning, he slammed my back into the door, causing me to bang my head, and cry out. Pain shot through my body like knives, both from the hardness of the door, and the sheer weight of Bill. My arms went slack, and I slid to the floor, holding my head.

"Kara!" I heard Ellie cry as she desperately pulled at her pipe.

I looked up carefully to see Bill holding a pistol aimed at Joel, who had his hands up. "Turn around and get on your knees," Bill ordered.

"Just calm down," Joel tried, only to be forcibly turned around, and to have his legs knocked out from under him by Bill.

"Turn around and get on your knees!" he ordered.

"Fine," Joel said.

"Don't test me."

"Just take it easy."

Bill looked over Joel, asking him stupid questions like whether he had any bites or fungal marks. Ellie was still tugging at her pipe, and my head was still aching, but I was able to stand.

"Goddammit, I'm cleam!" Joel screamed to Bill, who seemed to be satisfied. At that precise moment, Ellie was able to detach the pipe, and she hit Bill right in the head and arm with it. He screamed out in pain, and she would've continued to hit him if Joel hadn't intervened by pulling her arm away, and taking the pipe out of her hand.

"Stop," Joel told her.

"Son of a bitch!" Bill cried, rubbing his head.

"Serves you right, you fat asshole," I called to him from the door, as my head was still spinning, and the pain in my body was still pretty significant.

"Why…you little cunt–" Bill started at me, but Joel pushed his chest a little with the pipe, which caused him to stop. He aimed the pipe at Bill, and turned his head back towards me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said, holding the back of my head with one hand.

"Are you done?" he turned his head back around, and asked Bill, still aiming the pipe at him.

Bill gave him a look of disbelief, "Am _I _done? You come into my house, you set off all my traps, that little bitch," – he pointed at me – "jumps on me, and you damn near break my shootin' arm."

"Good," I said, walking over to Ellie since the pain was dimming, though my head throbbed as I walked.

"Stop, Kara," Joel said.

"Who the fuck is this punk, and what is she doing here?" Bill asked, looking at Ellie. I was about to say something, but Ellie beat me to it.

"_I _am none of your goddamn business," Ellie said, stepping toward him. "We're here because you owe Joel some favors, and you can _start _by taking _these _off!" She held up her wrist that was still attached to the handcuffs, but Joel made her put back down again. I didn't add anything. She clearly didn't need my help, and I had to admit that this was pretty entertaining.

"I owe Joel some favors. Is this some kind of joke?" Bill asked, moving away towards a nearby table.

"I'll cut to the chase," Joel said, throwing the pipe on the ground, and following him. "I need a car."

"Hey, you alright?" Ellie said, taking hold of my arm, and pulling me toward her.

"Yeah," I'm okay," I said to her.

I guess I didn't sound too convincing because she stood up on her toes, and began pulling my eyelids up with her handcuffed hand, checking for a concussion. Finally she concluded, "yeah, you don't look too bad. Doesn't look like you'll have a concussion or anything."

"Clean bill of health there, doc?" I teased with a smile.

She smiled and teased back, "just don't go banging your head into doors anymore, and you should be fine."

"Couldn't help myself," I teased further, making her laugh.

"Well, it is a joke," Bill said, cutting our teasing short. I lowered the arm that was holding my head to the side, and Ellie and I both paid attention to him.

"_Joel needs a car_," Bill continued in a mocking tone, cleaning the blood off a giant knife on the table. "Well, if I had one that works –which I sure as hell don't– what makes you think I'd just give it to you? 'Yeah sure, Joel. Go ahead, take my car. Take all my food while you're at it.'" His mocking was beginning to piss me off.

"By the looks of things, you could lose some of that food," Ellie snapped at him, inching her way forward.

"You listen to me, you little shit –," Bill took the knife in hand, aiming it at her.

"No fuck you!" she shouted back. "You _handcuffed _me and nearly bashed her head in –." Seeing the slight defensiveness she had in regards to me sent a flurry of activity through my body. I wondered how long it would take before I understood it all. I assumed it would take forever at this rate.

Joel grabbed Ellie's arm, dragging her off to the side, stopping her rampage, "I need you to _shut up_." Ellie sighed, giving Joel an irritated look, but she obliged him. That was more than I probably would've done.

"Whatever favors you think I owe you," Bill said to Joel. "It ain't worth that much."

"You got a lot of nerve saying that, you fucking flat-footed cheerio hole," I said, crossing my arms. I was there for many of the times that Joel and Tess had to save his ass from some dumbass situation he'd gotten himself into. So much for loyalty.

"Kara, just –," Joel said, raising his arms at me. "Just don't right now. Okay?" Was he finally beginning to see me as something other than a kid? An equal maybe?

I couldn't be sure, but the fact that he hadn't told me to shut up like he normally would've gave me hope. I also was willing to oblige him like Ellie had done. I nodded at him as a response.

Joel smiled in return, then looked at Bill, "actually, Bill, the favors _are _worth a lot."

Bill seemed to contemplate this for a moment, before saying, "well it don't matter 'cause I don't have a car that works."

"But there is one in this town."

"Parts. There are _parts _in this town."

"Meaning that you _could _fix one up."

Bill pondered for a moment more, realizing that both Joel and I were right in what we'd said, "alright." He then moved some gears and screws off the table, revealing a detailed map of the town underneath. Ellie and I drew close so we could see it.

"If I'm gonna do this," Bill said. "There's some gear I'm gonna need."

"Alright," Joel said.

"It's on the other side of town," Bill pointed to the area on the map. "Now you help me go gather it, and _maybe _I can put something together that runs."

"But after this," he continued, fishing out a pair of keys for the handcuffs on Ellie's wrist, and slamming them on the table. "I owe you nothin'."

Joel picked them up, and took off the handcuffs, "that's fine. Couple of days from now, we'll probably be dead anyway."

"Oh, that's optimistic, Joel," I said.

"It's the truth," he simply said.

"Follow me," Bill said, moving to a door on the opposite end of where we'd come in at. "Whole goddamn town's booby trapped, best stay right on my ass."

As he walked past us, Ellie said, "can't miss it."

"Knock it off," Joel said, gripping her shoulder, and shoving her slightly forward.

"I thought it was funny," I whispered in her ear as we followed the men.


	15. Chapter 15: Feelings

_Chapter 15: Feelings_

As it turned out, we were in the back area of what once was a diner. There was a counter with barstools, and booths lining the walls with red cushions. I began to wonder what it would've been like to come in here' what kind of food did they make; did they have music playing? I squelched the thoughts as soon as they came to me. It was pointless to think about a time I didn't know.

"Whatever supplies you may want or need, I suggest you grab them now," Bill instructed us, agitation seeping through his words. Asshole.

Joel told the two of us to look around, but there wasn't much there except for cleaning supplies. What I really needed was some bullets, but it seemed like we'd be running on fumes for a while, which irritated me.

Ellie seemed to notice, "anything wrong?"

"I'm almost out of bullets," I told her. "Damn infected just kept coming back there."

"Oh, well in that case…" she hoisted her backpack on front of her, and started rummaging through it, eventually pulling out a box of revolver ammo, and handed it to me.

I took the box from her gratefully, and was astounded, "when did you pick these up?"

"They were back in town."

"I don't know what to say," I immediately started to reload my gun, almost bursting with happiness. I'd never been so happy to see a box of bullets in my entire life.

"I think a 'thank you' would be okay," she teased.

Instead of simply thanking her, I flung myself at her once I'd finished reloading my gun. I wrapped my arms around her neck in a tight embrace, almost knocking her off balance. I'd never really been much of a hugger, but it seemed necessary considering the circumstances. She took a few steps backwards to steady herself, as she obviously wasn't expecting me to hug her the way I did. She didn't seem to mind though, since her arms were quickly wrapped around my waist. I moved my face so that my mouth was right next to her ear, and whispered, "thank you." Her smell was like nothing I'd ever smelled before. It was like a mixture of many different things, and fuck was it good. I closed my eyes and inhaled, breathing her in.

"Well damn," I heard her say. "I should start looking for revolver ammo more often if this is what I'm gonna get every time I give them to you."

"Maybe you should," I said before I could stop myself. My stomach dropped; I hadn't meant to say that. It felt like I'd said too much; like I was giving away some giant secret I was trying to hold back. I was afraid for what she might do. She pulled out of the embrace gently, and sighed, smiling.

"Silly girl," she whispered, reaching out one hand, and stroking my cheek briefly before pulling it back down. Shivers ran up my spine, but I tried not to let it show. I didn't know what I expected her to do after my slip, but that wasn't it.

"I should thank you, actually," she said in a normal tone. "For trying to help me back there with Bill."

"Trust me," I said. "I've been dying to do something like that for years."

"Even though he almost knocked you out?"

"It would've been worth it."

"Hey, you two," we heard Joel say from a door. "You good?"

"Yeah," I called, walking over to him with Ellie. "We're good."

Almost immediately on the other side of the door was a staircase. Bill was already ahead of us, at the top. "Don't leave the door open!" he called down to us. Joel closed it behind us, and we ascended.

"We have to cross to the other building," Bill said. "Let's move it!"

I tsked my tongue. The nerve of this guy.

Hearing me, Joel quickly said, "just…stay with me, you two."

As we went up the stairs, Bill began to talk again, but not to us, "can't believe you agreed to this bullshit, Bill. What you shoulda done was just left them back there." He went on further away from us, and I realized we were in a house.

"You weren't kidding about this guy," Ellie said once Bill was out of earshot.

"Yeah, he's one of a kind," Joel said.

"That's putting it mildly," I said. "He's fucking nuts is what he is."

We went on through the house with Bill at the front. Everything was fine until he started talking again. "So what kind of trouble you in?" he asked Joel. "Where the hell's Tess?"

Back with Ellie, behind the two men, I whispered, "oh God." I was beginning to do better with the idea that my aunt was gone, but hearing her name was enough to make my stomach drop. Bill had just brought up a whole string of emotions all over again. My breathing began to get heavy again, but Ellie quickly took my hand in hers. "I'm here," she said. Surprisingly enough, my breathing went back to normal, and I felt more calm. Knowing that she was there was a comfort to me that I hadn't expected.

"It's a job," Joel answered him, avoiding the subject of Tess altogether. "Just a simple drop off."

"What are you delivering?"Bill asked.

When Joel didn't answer, he was able to figure it out, "the little brat?"

"Ha ha," Ellie said sarcastically. "Fuck you too." The fact that she was so ballsy with him made me smile.

Bill let out an animated laugh, then began to talk to Joel again, "you know, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Are you kidding me with this guy?" Ellie asked me as we began to go down a flight of stairs to a different section of the house.

"I wish I was," I answered.

"So where are we goin', Bill?" Joel asked.

"My other safe house," he answered. "It's more of an armory."

"Wait," Ellie piped up, still clutching my hand. "I thought we were gonna fix up a car."

"We?" Bill started in on her. "You know how to fix –"

"Bill," Joel protested. "Just…"

He paused for a moment, listening to Joel. It used to amaze me that a grown man could act so childish about stuff, but Bill had always been that way. If Ellie wasn't around, I was pretty sure he'd start in on me. It was kinda nice to have a reprieve, but I didn't like him talking down to her. I kept my mouth shut, though. I was still thinking about Tess, and I knew that if I started now, I might fall apart, and Bill was the last fucker who needed to see that.

"Well, it's like I said," Bill began again. "What I need is to get on the other side of town. Now, that side I don't ever go to 'cause it's filled with infected. So, we're gonna need more guns."

"Hey, Joel," I called, as we were lead down to a basement type area. "Can I get something other than a revolver?"

Joel sighed, "we'll see."

"Yeah, and how about I just get a fucking gun period, Joel," Ellie added.

"We've been over this, Ellie," he said. "Best you leave that to Kara and me."

Ellie sighed and shook her head, and said quietly to me, "this is so stupid."

"I know," I agreed. "I'll work on him, okay?" I agreed that it was dumb for him not to let Ellie have a gun. I didn't mind guarding her, but when it came down to it, defending both her and myself required a lot of attention, not to mention ammo. It would just be a lot better if she was armed. I made a mental note to bring all that up to Joel when I had the chance to talk to him.

"So, you never answered my question about Tess," Bill said to Joel as we went further into the basement. My stomach was doing somersaults, and Ellie squeezed my hand to try and calm me down. I squeezed her hand back just as hard.

"I thought the three of you were inseparable," Bill added. I let out a small whimper of sadness, and although it was clear that Bill didn't hear it, Joel certainly did.

"She's busy," he said, trying to get him off the topic of her. He must've known how hard it was for me to listen to this, and he wanted to make it easier on me. The thought also occurred to me that it was hard on him also, though I wasn't sure.

"Sounds to me like there's trouble in paradise," Bill continued. "Honestly, I'm shocked the little bitch came with you instead of staying with her."

"You piss her off too?" he asked, turning to me.

"_Fuck you_!" I said through my teeth. My sadness instantly turned to anger, and Ellie had to hold me back from lunging at him. He didn't know what the fuck he was talking about, but I wasn't about to let him in on the tale before I punched him in the face.

"Easy there, K," Ellie soothed, holding me from behind, and pressing her forehead to my back. It wasn't her restraining me that stopped me. It was what she'd called me. K. I'd never had a nickname before. I liked the sound of it. I stopped trying to get at him, and Ellie let go of me.

"What?" Bill teased. "Your girlfriend not gonna let you hit me?"

My eyes widened, and it was as if a light bulb lit up in my head. Girlfriend…emotions, feelings, phrases…they all began to piece together in an intricate sequence that was all starting to make sense. I looked to Ellie to see if I could pinpoint what she was thinking, but her face hadn't changed.

"Bill, stop it," Joel scolded him, not mentioning what Bill had said specifically, which I was thankful for. "Kara's had a rough day. Ease up on her."

Bill shook his head, throwing his hands up, "fine." He led us outside of a door to the basement, which led to the street. This looked like yet another part of the small town we'd seen before, with small storefronts, and a house or two. Like always, there were a few cars in the street. This was beginning to become a common theme.

"So, why don't you fix one of these cars?" Ellie asked Bill as we stepped out into the light of the setting sun.

"Oh my god, you're a genius," Bill started in sarcastically. "I mean the whole time, why on earth hadn't I thought about fixin' one of _these_ cars?"

"Okay…don't be a dick," Ellie said.

"Their tires are rotted and their batteries are dead," Bill started again loudly.

"Are you done?" I asked him, irritated at his childishness yet again.

"Can't even begin to think about what the inside of the engine block looks like. Only ones making new car batteries are the military."

As if they heard Bill, screams and cries of Infected began to come at us from down the street. We all hid behind cars to try and gain cover on them.

"Goddammit," Joel said.

"Infected!" Ellie cried, hiding behind a car with me. Apparently, Bill's earlier comment hadn't fazed her. She still thought of me as the one who would look out for her the most, which made me happy. I couldn't tell if Bill's comment about her being my girlfriend changed how she saw things between us, but it changed the way I began to look at things. I aimed my revolver to where the infected were coming from, ready to protect her. It all seemed so stupid that I might feel this way about her; I'd only met her the day before. From what I've been told about things like this, they usually take months or even years to happen. However, I did see some sense in what I was feeling. If there was anything this world had taught me, it was that time didn't mean shit anymore. Everything you do, you do it fast because it can just as easily be taken away. Ellie was by no means my girlfriend, but maybe…just maybe…there was a part of me that wanted her to be.


	16. Chapter 16: Collateral Damage

_Chapter 16: Collateral Damage_

There were significantly less infected than I thought there would be, but they still tried to swarm us. There was a rule of thumb about Runners – don't let them swarm you. Still, I did my best with the revolver, taking only moments to reload before firing off another round. Ellie stayed low, always a few feet behind me. She tried her best to help with her knife, which she told me was actually a switchblade, but she couldn't do much with so many. I was instantly pissed at Joel again for not letting her have a gun. The fighting only ended when Bill took out a Molotov cocktail, and hurled it into the fray of infected, killing those that remained in the flames.

Exhaustion was starting to get to me due to lack of sleep, so in a last stitch effort to keep my strength up, I bent over, putting my hands on my knees, still holding the revolver.

"You okay, Kara?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, just need a second, that's all."

After a second, Ellie added, "you wanna know something stupid?"

"What?"

"I hadn't realized that you were a lefty."

I chuckled, and stood upright again, putting the revolver away, "yeah." Of all the things to notice…it was kind of endearing.

"I'm sorry, I just…I've never met one before," she said, chuckling herself.

"It's fine," I said. "I've never met a lefty either."

After that, Bill continued to lead us deeper into the bowels of the town, which were becoming more and more extensive and run-down by the minute. This town probably never looked nice…ever.

As if hearing my thoughts, Joel piped up, "you picked a hell of a place to hole yourself up in, didn't you?"

"You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable," Bill answered. "It's the normal people that scare me." I had to admit that he had a point there.

"You of all people should understand that," he added to Joel.

"What does that mean?" Ellie said.

"Nothin'," Joel answered.

"Don't feel bad, Ellie," I said quietly. "He doesn't answer my questions a lot of times either."

"Then how did you ever get to know him?" she asked.

"Other people would answer my questions." She didn't ask me anything else after that.

We eventually were lead to the cellar of an old house up on a hill. It didn't seem like the kind of place that would carry guns and supplies, but that was probably the point.

"Well, we're here," Bill said as we descended the stairs. "_You two_ don't touch anything." He said the last part to Ellie and I.

"Fuck you," I said before shoving my way in front of him with Ellie following. Joel closed the cellar door, and Bill lit a lantern so we could see. The room was pretty big, and there were all kinds of shelved and tables that had various different guns and supplies. Ellie began to walk over to one of the gun tables, but Joel stopped her.

"Uh-uh," he said.

"What?" she asked in an annoyed tone. "I need a gun."

"No you don't."

"Joel, I can handle myself."

"No."

"Jesus Christ, Joel," I piped in. "I get practically murdered every fucking time we run into some infected because she doesn't have a gun, and I have to defend the both of us." I hoped she wouldn't get offended by me saying that, but enough was enough.

"Then why doesn't she come with me? I can defend her a hell of a lot easier than you can."

"Probably because I don't trust you worth a shit!" Ellie said, crossing her arms stubbornly. I didn't really know what to say after that. Of course, I knew that she didn't trust him, but it was still weird for me to hear her say it out loud.

To his credit, Joel didn't argue with her. I don't think he expected her to say that either.

"I said no," he simply said. "You two just stay here." He then walked over to one of the tables that Bill was standing at.

"Sure, I'll just wait around here for you two to get us killed," Ellie said, talking to them, walking over to another table that had various pieces of paper and books on it.

"I can't believe you actually said that to him," I said, walking over with her.

"I don't give a fuck," she said.

"I hope you weren't offended by my saying that I nearly get killed every time..." I began.

"Not at all," she said. "I know you were just trying to let him give me a gun."

"I was," I said, watching as she began to take things off the table, and shove them into her bag.

"What're you doing?" I said, aware that Bill had said not to touch anything. Although I didn't really care what he had to say, I did care that he had a knife that he could just as easily point at us.

"Think of it s collateral damage," she said. "He almost knocked you out. Fucker's gotta pay somehow, might as well take his stuff." That was all the convincing I needed. I started shoving things into my bag too, always keeping an eye on them at the other side of the room, talking. When Bill finally did spot us, we were already through with our rade.

"Hey," he called out. At that point, we were just straightening stuff so it looked like we hadn't been through it.

"What did I say to you when we walked down the steps?" he finished.

Ellie stepped away from the table, arms up, and brilliantly said, "we're just fixing your stupid pile." I backed away too, and was trying not to laugh, which wasn't very hard considering we were talking to Bill.

"Don't touch!" he scolded, to which we both held up our middle fingers to him almost in unison. It was beautiful.

He talked to Joel once again for a few seconds, giving him a shotgun. I hadn't expected to get a gun, but I did ask for bullets, which Joel gave me. At least I wouldn't run out of those anytime soon. We looked around the room, picking up healing supplies, and bombs, which were kind of half-hazardly made out of a can with some scissors sticking out of it. Joel offered one to me, but I declined since I had a lot of stuff in my bag already from Bill's desk. He didn't seem to ask questions. Maybe he thought I was afraid of it.

"So, we got shotguns and bombs," Joel said, as we started to leave. "What're we doing with them?"

"Well," Bill began. "Every few weeks, this military caravan rides through town. I assume they're looking out for supplies, but you'd be amazed at the shit they overlook. Anyway, a few months back, they were rolling through, and they got overrun with this hoard of infected. They were all over the truck, and it plows right into the side of the high school. It's still sitting there with the battery in it."

"So, we take that batter and put it in another car," Joel said.

"Bingo," Bill said. "I wanted to get it, but it seemed too dangerous with all the infected on that part of town, but fuck it. _Joel needs a car_."

I sighed at Ellie. What a fucking three-year-old.

"What if it's damaged?" Joel asked, ignoring him.

"Nah, those trucks are like tanks. It's just sittin' there."

"That actually might work."

Bill then turned to Ellie and me, eyeing us down, "I swear to God, if you two took anything…"

"Hey man, I don't need your shit," Ellie said. "Trust me."

"And you must be more fucking brainless than I thought if you think I want anything," I said, always the good liar.

"Joel, you are keeping an eye on them, right?" Bill asked.

"We don't need a fucking babysitter," I said.

"Like a hawk," Joel answered him, trying to get everyone to shut up.

Upon walking up through the various levels of the house, I realized it wasn't a house at all. In fact, it turns out it was a church. A nice one. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen one that wasn't completely ripped to shreds. It was kind of peaceful, but I didn't have time to dwell on it because we were outside almost as soon as we entered. From there, we could basically see the entire town. The church must've been on the highest ground. I saw the irony in this.

"Look," Bill said, pointing straight ahead of us. "There's the school." I looked, and I could faintly make out a huge sign that said the name of the school on it.

I prepared myself for what was ahead, and as we went down the hill, we could see the remnants of the way things were before mingled with signs of this world. There were graves on the lawn, but there was also a pile of scorched infected that Bill had obviously set on fire. I'd seen worse in my life, but I didn't think Ellie had seen anything like it.

"Oh man," she said as she came upon it, and just looked down at it.

"You don't need to be lookin' at that," Joel said, passing right by it.

"Yeah, c'mon, Ellie," I said, holding out my hand, which she gladly took and continued to walk with me.

"I've seen worse," she said, more to Joel than to me. I stood corrected.

"…okay," Joel said.

We then came upon an area that looked kind of like an old cemetery, only it was kind of like a maze at the same time. It had large markers, and high walls, both covered in leaves and vines. It was separating us from the high school, though, so we knew we had to go through it. Almost instantly, we began to hear faint clicks in the distance.

"You hear that?" Ellie asked.

"Stay quiet," Joel said.

We moved through the area quickly, yet quietly. We knew there would be at least one Clicker from the noise, but we didn't expect there to be at least seven in the same area. At that point, I knew we had to be extra cautious. If one could hear us, they all could. I did take the opportunity to try out the bow and arrow, though, since it was the quietest weapon we had. It seemed to work too, since when I killed one, none of the others were alarmed. I took my time, picking ones to kill, and ones to just sneak past. We eventually came to a gate on the other side of the area which Bill had a key for. I was glad to leave the Clickers behind.

The journey to the high school wasn't an easy one. Once we were out of reach of the Clickers, we were in another section of town that we had to go through, this one being infested with Runners. Taking care of them, we also made a point to go through many of the houses and look for spare supplies. I didn't really know how I felt about going through the houses, even though no one had been in them for a long time. Something about it seemed intrusive, but then again, it was all about survival, and this is what we had to do. Ellie didn't seem to mind it, though. I wondered what she must've been through.

As we went, we were mostly quiet, so my mind was able to wander, and it always seemed to come back to Ellie, and what I felt about her. Clearly, she was a good friend who made me laugh, but there was also that odd spark whenever I got close to her. I wanted to protect her, but it wasn't the way a mother wants to protect their child, it was something different. Something on an entirely different level. Did I like her as more than a friend? I thought about the way I wanted to smile when she held my hand, the way her eyes always danced when I looked at them. I'd never seen a more beautiful girl, but that wasn't enough to convince me. What did it was the fact that she never lied to me. She always told me the truth, and she trusted me with her life. That thought alone gave me butterflies. I definitely had feelings for her. How could I not?


	17. Chapter 17:Explosion of Bullets and Dust

_Chapter 17: Explosion of Bullets and Dust_

It wasn't the seemingly young ages of the infected that bothered me as we came to the high school. It wasn't the empty, rotted out buses or the broken windows of the building itself. It wasn't even how we had to rush in through a window to avoid a Clicker.

"That's not gonna hold," Ellie said as she and I closed a measly glass window, the only thing separating us from the infected outside.

"Bill, make it fast," Joel shouted.

In the middle of the small room, there was the military vehicle that Bill had told us about back at his safe house. He quickly rushed over to it, and began to fumble with it while the rest of us watched the infected bang themselves against both the window, and a nearby set of double-door that was only held closed by a rusted out chain. In times like these, a mixture of excitement and anxiety usually raced through me. However, this time was different. This time, there was fear as well. Not fear for myself, but for Ellie.

To try and make the barrier between us and the infected stronger, Ellie and I helped Joel move a set of metal shelves against the doors, and braces ourselves against them. Still, even with our combined weight, it wasn't going to be enough to hold them back for long.

"Please tell me you're done," Joel called over to Bill, who was peering under the hood of the truck.

"It's empty," Bill said with disbelief.

"What!?" Joel nearly screamed, moving away from the shelves, and running over to Bill

"It's fucking empty!"

"Guys!" Ellie shouted at them, as the two of us pushed all our weight against the metal.

"Bill, where to?" Joel asked.

"Uh," he hesitated in reply.

"Bill, where!?"

"Anywhere but here." There was a level of fear I'd never heard in Bill's voice before. It occurred to me that he didn't have a plan. We were going to have to wing it. Now, I began to fear for myself as well.

"Get ready to haul ass," Joel said, suddenly next to us, and pulling us away from the shelves. "C'mon!"

We ran out of the room we were in, barely making it out before the infected broke through our flimsy barrier.

"They've broken through!" Joel called out, reiterating what I was thinking. We closed another set of double doors, blocking them in the room, but we knew it would only give a few extra seconds. Still, it was better than nothing. We all then turned from the doors, and began running down the hall.

That was what bothered me. All the forgotten lockers, dust caked on their surfaces. The banners and signs along the walls that announced club meetings and pep rallies. This place was once bustling with people. People my own age. Now, it felt like a cold, crumbling wasteland.

Ellie grabbed hold of my hand as we ran, snapping me out of my thinking. I was glad for that, because I didn't want to go any deeper into my thought process. I was able to think more reasonably now. Whatever was here was gone now. That's all there was to it.

Although the school seemed big on the outside, on the inside it really wasn't, since most areas of the school were blocked off with metal fences. I was surprised they had those here, since I'd only ever seen those in malls and government buildings. In a way, it was helpful because we knew that infected couldn't get through the gates to us, so it greatly minimized the number of them we would face, but as usual, there were still many more in the areas we were in.

There seemed to be almost a path through the school, through hallways and different classrooms, where infected lay waiting. In some of the rooms, faded remnants of papers and books littered the floor, and assignments were still written on boards. Thoughts of the past tried to creep up in my mind, but I immediately squelched them. I focused on protecting Ellie instead, and that seemed to do the trick. I stole quick glances at her, and she seemed to always be looking at my left hand, which of course was shooting off my revolver. The littlest things seemed to amuse her, which in turn amused me. I didn't have long to dwell on this because we eventually came to another set of double doors in one hallway that wasn't blocked off.

"Help me open this," Joel said to Bill, who immediately came to help him. Ellie and I stayed back, watching the way we came. As the men got the door slightly open, and we were able to squeeze through, we noticed more infected coming for us.

"Barricade the doors," Bill instructed when we were all through the doors and into the gymnasium. We found different gym equipment and floor mats, and braced them against the doors, which did the trick of keeping out the infected in the halls for a short time, but it has an unintended result. Placing the equipment against the doors had caused quite a lot of noise, and as we finished, doors leading to another room were beginning to vibrate, as something was banging against them from the other side.

"That don't sound good," Joel said.

I gripped Ellie's hand tighter, a surge of fear coursing through me as the doors opened, and out came the largest infected I'd ever seen. It had the same growths coming out of its head that a Clicker did, only it was much larger, and the growths continued all around its body. It had a huge, round belly, and a terrifying noise came out of it that sounded like a mixture of clicks and growls.

"Oh no…" Joel said quietly, as we found a place to hide.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked.

Suddenly, the thing hurled a burst of yellow-ish dust that fell directly next to me. I moved a few feet to one side, avoiding the path of any more of those things.

"It's a goddamn Bloater!" Bill cried from a different area.

"A what?" Ellie asked.

"Take cover, you two," Joel instructed us, as he took out a Molotov cocktail, hurling it at the thing. It caught fire, twirling around, making the loudest cry I've ever heard. Ellie and I took the opportunity to hide, sitting behind some boxes, out of the way of everything. As soon as we did, two Runners burst through the upper windows of the gymnasium, running toward the men, since they didn't see us. I wondered if they were coming to the rescue of the Bloater, or if they just knew we were here. I couldn't be sure.

"What is it throwing at us?" Ellie called, as the Bloater hurled another yellow burst through the air.

"Just stay away from it," Joel called.

"We're safe, Ellie," I said, holding her against my chest in a protective embrace. She in turn wrapped her arms around me, as if protecting me as well.

"You're gonna sit here and let them keep you on the sidelines like this?" Ellie teased, knowing damn well that I liked to fight.

"Yeah, just this once," I said. I thought about what she said, and wondered why I hadn't intervened, putting myself in the fray. Something about the way Joel had told us to take cover just made me want to listen to him, so I had. Also, I couldn't deny the fact that I was genuinely scared of the Bloater.

"Fuck that bullshit," I finally said to Ellie as a reply. "I don't want any part of that Bloater." I chose not to mention the part about Joel.

"Smart," Ellie said.

What happened next was a series of gunshots and yellow dust flying through the air. Everything seemed to be happening at once as Ellie and I sat on the sidelines and stayed out of the way of it all. It was now even stranger to me that I wasn't in the mix. I couldn't remember the last time I was sidelined at a fight like this, especially with such a huge foe as the Bloater. For a split second, I thought about defying Joel and going in, but then I remembered the girl I held in my arms, and stayed where I was.

After the explosion of bullets and dust, everything seemed to stop for a brief moment. There was almost no sound, and the dust dissipated through the air. From where I was sitting, I could see that Joel and Bill were okay, but all Ellie could see was dust.

"Oh my God," she said. I held her a little tighter against me, not knowing if I was trying to comfort her or myself.

"We need to get up there," Joel shouted, pointing to the bleachers, which were all pressed in, creating a kind of wall.

"We can't climb these bleachers with all the infected around!" Bill responded.

The Runners were already dead, but the Bloater was still coming after them with a vengeance. I wasn't sure how many times they shot him, but it seemed like every time they did, more and more layers of fungus flew off its body until we could plainly see the once human body it had. One last Molotov cocktail from Joel finally did it, though. This time, when it caught fire, it stayed on fire, flailing around until it finally fell to the ground in a charred heap, and didn't move again.

"There," Joel said, motioning for Ellie and me to come of our hiding place. All of us went over to the dead Bloater, finally able to analyze it more closely.

"What was up with that big guy?" Ellie asked no one in particular.

"He's been infected for a long time. We call them Bloaters," Joel answered.

"How come you never told me about them?" I asked, slightly annoyed that they'd kept information about infected away from me.

"There weren't ever any Bloaters in the city," Joel answered. "They were usually found and killed long before it got to that point. Didn't plan on you leaving the city."

He had a fair point, which I was ashamed to admit.

"I hate to interrupt," Bill said. "But can we get the fuck out of here? Please?"

He then walked over to the bleachers, saying, "Let's get on top of these." One by one, we helped each other get on top of the bleachers, and were able to crawl through the window that the Runners had come through earlier, finally getting out of the school. Bill began to run again, leading us god knows where, and while he was at it, infected began to come at us again. We all managed to climb over a wooden fence into the backyard of someone's old house, which thankfully had an open backdoor.

"Everyone in the house," Bill instructed. "Now!" We all ran into the house with Bill pulling the sliding glass door shut behind us.

"Well, that went well," Ellie said.

"Extremely," I added.

"Bill?" Joel asked, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Somebody had the same idea," Bill replied. "They stole my shit."

Ellie and I both gave each other a look, realizing that this was about to become a fight.

"Well then what the hell is plan B?" Joel yelled.

"You ought to be thankful you're still drawing breath!" Bill screamed back. "That was plan A, B, C, all the way to fucking Z. And furthermore, you can tell Tess she can take this job –"

"Don't you bring Tess into this!"

" –she can shove it right up–"

Anger filled me once again, and this time, I'd had enough. Ellie didn't restrain me. She let me go right up to Bill, turn him around to face me, and scream in his face, "TESS IS DEAD!"

A strange, ominous silence fell over everyone. The fighting stopped. Even breathing stopped. No one really knew what to do. I'd just released the last thing Bill ever saw coming. Everyone just looked at me, waiting for someone to speak first.

"Is that true?" Bill asked Joel, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Joel said. He didn't sound angry at me for saying something, more contemplative. I saw Bill put pieces of the story together in his mind; why I was with Joel and not my aunt, why she wasn't here, it all made sense to him now. I didn't know what the expression was on his face. It wasn't sadness, or anger, or indifference. It was just kind of…blank. As if he didn't know how to feel.

The strangest part of all was that I felt different about the whole thing. Saying her name, finally stating what had happened to her out loud somehow made it better. I then felt the coolness of Ellie's hand on my shoulder. That made things better too.


	18. Chapter 18: You Bet

_Chapter 18: You Bet_

We all continued to stare at each other until at last we turned to face another death. As if the air wasn't already thick enough from talk of Tess. A rope was tied to a table, reaching up to the ceiling, and then back down again. Hanging at the end was a decaying body. It was obviously that of a man, and he was wearing a pair of jeans and a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Jesus," Joel said, approaching it. "Ellie, Kara, don't look at it."

But of course, we did look at it. We had to. Bill stared along with us, but unlike us, I finally saw a change in his face. It was as if the sight ignited something in him, and I began to see a change in his face.

"What? You know this guy or something?" Joel asked, noticing Bill's face.

"Frank," Bill said after a slight pause.

"Who the hell is _Frank_?"

"He was my partner," Bill's fists clenched as he said the word 'partner.' I didn't understand the significance of that statement, but it clicked with Joel, who looked back at Bill, then back at the body.

"He's the only idiot who'd wear a shirt like that," Bill finished dryly, bringing out his giant knife, and cutting the rope with it. The body dropped to the ground with a thud that seemed almost too loud. Bill's face looked even more aged and scarred then, sadness creeping up within him, which shocked me, since this was Bill. I'd never seen him look anything other than pissed off. The more I thought about it, however, the realization finally hit me. I'd only seen sadness like that once before in my life. It was the look my mom face when she got the news that my dad had died. That was it. Bill loved this man. He had a heart after all. I never thought I'd feel sorry for him, but in that moment, I certainly did.

"He's got bites…" Bill continued, walking over to the man he once knew, pointing to different parts of the body "Here…and…"

"I reckon he didn't want to turn, so he…" Joel said in the most sympathetic way I've ever heard. Even though his voice was quite rough, there was almost a softness to it in that moment.

"Yeah, I guess not," Bill said, his voice cracking. I feared me might start to cry, and then my world would turn upside-down. However, the thought left as soon as it came because his face turned instantly back to the usual pissed off look it always had.

"Well fuck him," he said. I wondered how he could say that after just realizing the man he loved was dead. I no longer felt sorry for him.

Then there was a strange sound of an engine starting, and I realized Ellie wasn't behind me anymore. We all quickly rushed through the house to the garage, where Ellie was behind the wheel of a truck, trying to get it started.

"Look what I found," Ellie said, excitement in her voice. "It's got some juice in it." Her enthusiasm made me forget the heaviness of what had gone on in the house.

I ran around to the passenger seat, and hopped in, shouting, "good job, Ellie!" I'd never been inside a car that actually worked before, so to me, this was very cool.

"That's my battery!" Bill noticed, looking under the hood of the truck. "That fuckin' asshole."

He shut the hood with force, before shouting at us, "get out." We weren't really listening to him, so we stayed where we were.

"Get. Out." He said more forcefully, peering his head into the driver's side window, opening the door. I hopped out immediately, and walked around to stand with Joel, irritation once again growing in me. Ellie got out too, saying with attitude, "okay, geez."

Bill hopped in the driver's side, and turned the key. The car began to make some noise, but it didn't start. "Battery's drained, but the cells are alive," Bill said.

"Meaning?" Joel asked.

"Meaning, we push it, get it started, and the alternator will recharge the battery."

"Is that your guess?"

"Look you wanted a plan B," Bill sneered. "This is as good as it gets."

"What are you thinking?" Ellie asked both Joel, since ultimately, it was his decision that counted most. Even I was okay with that.

"Thinkin' you drive, and we push," he answered.

"Wait a fucking minute!" I whined, finally having a problem. "How come I can't drive?"

"Because you don't know the first thing about driving."

"So?"

"So she does, and you don't." That was the first time he ever felt that Ellie had more experience than me at something, and trusted her to do a better job. I'd been trying to get him to start acting this way this whole time, so I couldn't even be mad anymore. I saw this as a baby step in the right direction. Joel then took the opportunity to go back in the house to look for supplies, while Bill was busy messing with stuff in one corner, mumbling to himself.

"C'mon, K," Ellie said, hopping in the driver's seat, closing the door behind her, and placing her hands on the steering wheel. The fact that she used that name again nearly made me melt. She also gave me a genuinely happy smile, which didn't help, but I managed to keep it together. "Get in the passenger side, and ride this baby with me!" she said.

I placed my arms on the window sill, and gave her a sly smile. "You gonna take care of me?" Of course I was gonna get in the damn car, but I kind of just wanted to hear what she'd say.

"You bet," she said sweetly, tapping my chin with her thumb and forefinger. I blushed red, turning my face away, and walked around the car with my face down, hoping she wouldn't see it. Thankfully, it was gone by the time I hopped in the passenger side. It wasn't weird to be sitting there with her, slouching against the worn-out seats. In fact, it seemed almost natural; like we should've been doing this all along.

"I can't believe Joel is actually gonna let me drive this thing," Ellie said enthusiastically.

"Told you he'd come around," I said. I was legitimately happy for her.

"Did you seriously want to drive, or…?" Ellie asked, wondering if it had been another ploy for him to let her do things.

"Of-fucking-course I wanted to drive!" I cried, making Ellie laugh. That showed she knew I didn't really mind, which I think put her at ease a little.

As if on cue, Joel re-appeared in the garage, and handed Bill a piece of paper. I couldn't make out what it said, but I did hear Bill say, "well, fuck you too, Frank."

"Ready?" Joel asked no one in particular. Everyone either nodded of said "yes."

"Kara, you staying up here?" Joel asked me, noticing where I was.

"Yep," I answered.

"Okay."

Bill opened the garage door, with Joel standing behind the truck, ready to push.

"Alright, put 'er in first," Bill instructed Ellie.

"Already did it," she replied.

"Just," Bill continued, moving to stand next to Joel. "Keep your foot on the clutch, and when we get to roll–"

"I know how to pop a clutch!" Ellie interrupted, making me crack up.

"How the hell do–?" Bill began before catching himself as he and Joel began to push the truck through the garage door. "You know what? I don't care. Just don't fuck it up!"

"Aye aye, captain," I said quietly with a sarcastic salute. Ellie grinned.

We were halfway through the garage door when we heard Joel say, "alright Ellie, get ready..."

Immediately, she started jerking the stick shift, and as they pushed, her face became more focused. I dared not talk to her. She seemed to be in some kind of zone. Outside of the garage was a small dip that led to a street, so Bill and Joel were able to stop pushing, and let it build up its own speed.

"Now!" Joel called. "Hit it!"

Ellie twisted the key in the ignition, and the truck roared to life for a brief moment. It scared me at first since I wasn't expecting it to be that loud, but I soon got over that. Ellie steered the truck onto the street, where it stopped on its own.

"Hey, good job, kid!" Bill shouted, surprising the both of us. I'd never heard him praise anyone before. Ever. Today was turning out to be full of surprises.

"I'm impressed," I said.

"Thanks," Ellie replied, giving me a small smile before turning her attention back to the truck.

Because it still wasn't completely operational yet, Bill and Joel still had to continue to push it down the street. It seemed easy enough, but as we got moving, a hoard of Infected began coming out of the sides of the houses that lined the street, and running toward Bill and Joel.

"Guys, they're coming on your left," Ellie said, spotting them.

The men stopped pushing immediately, and began to fight off the infected.

"Do you want me to get out?" I called, shooting with my gun through the open window.

"No," Joel answered. "There may be more of them. You gotta tell us if you see 'em."

"Calm down, Ellie," I heard Ellie say to herself with a finicky voice as she waited for us to kill off the infected so we could all get moving again.

"Hey," I took a moment to turn toward her, and she looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm here. Don't be afraid." She seemed to feel a little better after that, and it wasn't long before the infected were dead, and the truck began to move again.

Those weren't the only infected we had to deal with. They came in small groups from behind the different houses, and we had to stop often. I kept myself aware, keeping my eyes on our surroundings. With Ellie helping me, we were able to warn the men each time a new hoard came out. I tried to shoot some of them, but mostly, they went for Joel and Bill, so for Ellie and me, it was mostly a waiting game.

After what seemed like an eternity at this, I heard Bill say, "If we can just make it to the hill. We just get it over the edge…" A short distance ahead of us, there was a deep dip in the road, which would definitely give the truck enough momentum to get running. However, it seemed to take us centuries to get to it. I'd never seen so many infected crowded together in one place. Bill's Town was definitely a first for me.

When we reached the threshold of the hill, Joel told Ellie to get ready. Her grip instantly tightened of the wheel, and her eyes focused on the road. They pushed us once more, and the truck increased speed, first gradually, then all at once.

"Alright, Ellie! Start it up!" Joel yelled, running down toward us. Ellie jerked the key in the ignition, and the truck roared to life again, only this time, it stayed running instead of crapping out. The engine began to purr, and I kind of liked it. However, I was fully aware of the noise that the car was making, which meant the infected did too. She hit the brakes, allowing Bill and Joel to hop in the pickup, and they slammed on the back window, telling Ellie to floor it. She put the clutch into position, and slammed on the gas pedal. We moved so fast that I didn't have time to react, so I slammed into my seat. I looked behind us, seeing that a number of infected were racing toward the truck, but the distance between us soon grew longer and longer until they were out of sight.

I sighed of relief, leaning my head back, "that was fucking close."

"You're telling me," Ellie said, easing up on the steering wheel, and leaning back in her seat.

I was then able to relax, and look around us. We were going pretty fast, and I watched as the landscape passed by us in seconds. I actually began to enjoy myself, realizing how this was the opportunity of a lifetime in many ways. I'd never been in a car and just…drove like this. I didn't know if I'd ever get the chance to do it again. Sitting there with Ellie, driving down the road, seemed like the greatest thing in the world to me.

Feeling the breeze hit my face in the open window, I stuck my head slightly outside of it, getting the full extent of the wind hit my face, whirling my hair behind me.

"What are you doing?" Ellie asked.

"Feeling the breeze," I answered.

"Your hair is so fucking long, it looks like you have on a goddamn cape!"

I smiled, and pulled my head back inside the truck, using the rear-view mirror to smooth my hair down.

"Are you seriously concerned about what your hair looks like?" Ellie cried.

"I just don't wanna look like a banshee," I said, finally satisfied with the way it fell.

"I've never seen hair that long before," she said. "Usually people cut it." My thoughts instantly went back to Tess, and how she was always trying to make me cut it. Instead of getting sad about it, though, I smiled a little.

"I like it long," I said. "It's the one thing in my life I can really control."

"I get that," Ellie said. "I'd like to grow it like that, but I don't think I could."

"Maybe one day, you will."

She smiled, "maybe."


	19. Chapter 19: Respect

_Chapter 19: Respect_

"Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone still drove all the time?" Ellie asked. We were still driving the truck, with Bill throwing in directions every once in a while. For the most part, however, she and I mostly just chatted.

"Please, the only people who drive anymore are the military," I answered, gazing at the horizon, scooting down in my seat so I could put my feet on the dashboard.

"As far as we know. People in other places might still drive."

"Like where?"

"I don't know. All I know is I wanna see 'em all."

"Every place?" I crossed my arms, and turned my head to look at her. "Like everywhere in the country?"

"That's the idea," she answered. "Now that I'm out of Boston, I feel like there's a whole new world out there just waiting to be explored."

"You don't think that it'd be sad to look at?"

"Maybe," she said. "But those places have…I don't know, history. I wanna find out what it is."

"I see," I said. Thinking about any time away from her made my heart drop a little.

"You can always come with me," she suggested, which made me perk up a little.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. We're friends. Friends do that kind of shit with each other."

"I'd like that," I said, part of me wanting to tell her that I didn't want to just be her friend, but I didn't have the heart to. Not now. I wanted to find the right time, and I would just have to play it cool until then.

"Alright!" we suddenly heard Bill say from the pickup, banging on the side. "This'll do." Ellie gradually rolled the truck to a stop, and the men hopped off the truck. It looked like we were back near the area where we met Bill originally.

"Just keep it running, alright?" Joel said to Ellie before walking off to the side with Bill, where they talked for a few minutes. Bill threw Joel a pair of jumper cables, and they spoke for a few more moments before Joel walked back over to the truck. Ellie slid into the backseat from the driver's seat, allowing Joel to take her place. I started to follow her, but Joel motioned for me to stay where I was.

"What?" I asked.

"You're not gonna believe this," he said.

I became even more curious, "what?"

"Bill told me to tell you that…he's sorry."

I gave him a puzzled look, "for what?" Being a general asshole all the time, maybe?

He paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, and said, "for Tess."

I don't think I've ever been more surprised to hear something in my entire life. Bill, the same man who'd given me hell ever since I met him so many years before, felt sympathy for me. Emotion welled up inside me, and I knew that I couldn't just leave like that.

"Hang on," I said, hopping out of the truck.

"What are you doing?" Ellie and Joel both called to me.

"Just hang on a sec," I ran around the truck, and over to where Bill was still standing. He was surprised to see me.

"Are you really sorry?" I asked. I wanted to be sure.

He just nodded. It was the kindest thing he'd ever done for me.

"Thank you," I said. "I'm sorry about your partner too. I don't know what that's like…losing someone you love like that."

He rubbed his face, "it's no picnic." With that simple statement, he confirmed what I'd thought all along.

"Will you be okay?"

"Eventually," he said before looking me straight in the eye. "Listen, I know you know that I don't fucking like you, and you don't fucking like me, but I see the way you look at her, and you better be fucking good to her, and take care of her." My eyes widened as he spoke. I hadn't expected this at all to come out of his mouth. He noticed that I had feelings for Ellie, and wasn't just trying to get me worked up

"Unless you wanna end up like me," he continued. "Do right by her."

I was so stunned, I didn't know what to do. By saying that, not only did it show that he actually gave a shit about someone other than Frank and himself, but that he was willing to give me relationship advice, which was the weirdest part about that whole thing.

"I will," I said, unsure of really what to say.

"Alright," he said. "Now, Joel and I are square, so I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told him. Get the fuck out of my town."

Without saying anything else, I turned around, and went back to the car. I never thought I'd ever have any kind of real respect for Bill, but at that moment, I definitely did. I hopped into the backseat with Ellie, and Joel began to drive.

"Everything okay?" he asked. Ellie gave me a look showing that she was thinking the same thing Joel was.

"Yeah," I simply said. "I just wanted to thank him."

* * *

><p>As we drove, the light of the setting sun turned into a grey sky, which turned into rain. Joel told Ellie and I to try and get some sleep, but we were too busy taking out the stuff we'd found at Bill's. We mainly took out a bunch of old comic books called <em>Savage Starlight<em>, and began to read them while Joel drove.

"Oh man!" Ellie cried out after finishing one.

"What happened to sleeping?" Joel called from the front seat.

"Okay, I know it doesn't look like it," Ellie said, holding up the comic. "But this is not a bad read. Only one problem…" – she pointed at the bottom of one page – "…'to be continued'. I hate cliffhangers." She was much more animated than I was about the lack of endings.

"I don't mind them," I inserted. "I like making up my own endings. Mine are probably more creative than the writer's anyway."

"Where did you two get those anyway?" Bill said, tilting his head back to see that we both were reading comics.

"Uhh," Ellie began. "Back at Bill's…"

"Collateral damage, Joel," I added. "He almost gave me a concussion…"

"And all the stuff was just lying there…" Ellie finished.

Joel sighed, shaking his head a little, then a small smile came across his face, "what else did you get?"

We both went digging through our bags, and Ellie was the first to bring out an old cassette and show it to Joel. "This make you all nostalgic?"

"That is actually before my time," Joel said, taking the cassette, and reading the title. "That is a winner, though." He popped it into the cassette player, and sighed, "oh man."

"That's awful," I said, listening to the hokey, country sounding banjo, or whatever the fuck it was, coming from the speakers.

"Better than nothing," Ellie said, continuing to dig through her bag.

I searched through mine some more, and pulled out a magazine with a man wearing only a bowtie on the front. "What the fuck?" I cried. "_Bearskin Magazine_?" Of course I would be the one to find the porn magazine.

Ellie scooted closer to me, looking at it, "Joel, I'm sure your friend will be missing this tonight!" We then began to leaf through the pages.

"Mmm-hmmm," Joel said, not paying attention to what we had in our hands.

"Light on the reading, but it's got some interesting photos," Ellie said, trying to get his attention, and making me laugh.

"Guys, that ain't for kids!" He said, finally realizing what we were looking at.

"Woah!" Ellie said as we came to a particularly racy picture. "How the hell would you ever walk around with that thing?!"

"He'd need an extra pant leg in his shorts, that's for sure," I said, tilting the magazine sideways to get a better look.

"Get rid of that!" Joel called.

"Hold your horses, we wanna see what the fuss is about!" Ellie said. We. She said 'we.' I wasn't really looking at the pictures anymore. I was focusing on what she'd just said.

"Why are all these pages stuck together?" Ellie asked, bringing me back to the present. Neither Joel nor I dared say anything. I definitely was not the right person to explain that to her.

Ellie laughed, "I'm just fucking with you guys." I sighed of relief.

"Ellie, if you really hadn't known…" I began.

"Relax, Kara," she laughed. She then rolled down the back window, throwing the magazine out into the pouring rain. As she did, I noticed a sign that said 'Pittsburgh, 242 miles.'

Ellie and I both leaned back against our seats then, listening to the cassette that was playing.

"You know what?" I said. "This isn't so bad." I didn't know what kind of feelings it evoked in me, but it made me feel something; something comfortable.

"Why don't you two try and get some sleep, okay?" Joel said.

"Please, I'm not even tired," Ellie said.

"Me neither," I said.

Joel shook his head, then turned his attention back to the road.

Ellie and I just sat for a few seconds before Ellie started motioning for me, patting the space of the backseat next to her. I scooted over, and leaned against her. She separated me from lying against the window, and just like she had done the night we first met, she just watched the rain fall.

We were leaning against the window that was farthest away from the driver's seat, so I felt safe to test a few waters, and leaned my head against her shoulder. She didn't do anything, to my relief.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked softly so that Joel couldn't hear, tilting my head up to look at her.

"Nothing, really," she answered. "The rain is just very calming for me." I nodded against her shoulder.

"Here," she said, shifting her position so that her back was against the window, and she was facing me. "Lay on my chest."

I hesitated. "What?"

"I'm serious," she said. "Those bags are getting larger by the minute, and I'm pretty sure that you haven't slept longer than I have." She was probably right about that.

"I just want to give you something more comfortable to sleep on than my shoulder," she finished.

I hesitated for a brief moment more, then slowly moved toward her, eventually resting my head against her chest, and my body against hers. I placed my arms at her sides, and she draped her arms around me, rubbing one of my arms with her thumb.

"Now, isn't this more comfortable than my shoulder?" she asked.

Her body was warm and soft, and I felt like I could sleep on her forever. I instantly felt exhausted, so I simply nodded to answer her question. I wasn't sure what was bringing on this behavior in her, but I definitely wasn't complaining.

"Get some sleep, K," she cooed with a voice like velvet before I drifted off.


	20. Chapter 20: Pittsburgh

_Chapter 20: Pittsburgh_

I awoke to the quiet music still playing in the cassette player, and the humming of the moving truck. I opened my eyes slowly, noticing the brightness of the morning, and closed them shut again. I must've slept through the night; I couldn't remember the last time I'd done that. I fluttered my eyes a few times to allow them to get used to the light, the focused on my surroundings. I could still feel Ellie's body beneath mine, and as I repositioned my head on her chest, I could hear the beating of her heart, and I could feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Her arms were still around me, and this made me happy, though I didn't really understand it. Did things like that happen when you liked someone?

I tilted my face upwards to look at Ellie. She was sleeping still, and I thought her face looked really peaceful. The lines and marks on her face had smoothed out as she slept, and though it hadn't seemed possible to me before, she was even more beautiful asleep than she was awake. I almost didn't have the heart to wake her up.

"Ellie," I said softly, pressing one of my hands lightly against her side. "Wake up."

She started to move a little, whimpering, then fluttered open her eyes, and looked down at me.

"Hey," she said sleepily, giving me a tired smile.

"Hey," I answered.

"Morning already?"

"Unfortunately."

"That's some bullshit."

I giggled a little in agreement, "yep."

"Did you get some sleep?"

More than I probably ever have. "I think we both slept through the night."

"Hmm," she said in a surprised tone, scooting her body up the side of the car door so she was more comfortable. I moved with her, not wanting to separate myself from her body.

"Comfortable much?" she asked.

"Yep," I answered. "I don't want to move."

"You don't have to," she said to my surprise.

"Oh, no no no," we heard Joel say from the front seat. "That's perfect." The truck then came to a slow stop.

That put an end to my comfort. I was about to say something to her when Joel spoke, but after he finished, I hoisted myself off her, and we both leaned over toward the front seat.

"What?" I asked. I looked out at the road in front of us, noticing that there were a ton of cars lined in front of us, blocking the road in front of us. However, there was a road that turned off to the side, into what looked like another city. That wasn't the point though. We wanted to get to Tommy's place, and a detour was definitely going to slow us down.

"Now what?" Ellie asked, yawning.

Joel turned so that he was looked at the road behind us, contemplating whether to go to the city, or turn around. After thinking about it for a minute, he said, "screw it," and continued to drive straight into the city.

The city itself looked a lot like Boston. The buildings were mostly made out of brick, and they lined the streets extremely close together. There were abandoned cars all over the place, but unlike Boston, it had a general abandoned feel to it.

"What city is this?" I asked.

"Pittsburgh," Joel answered.

I nodded, then continued to look out the window for a long while we drove. Joel seemed to be more cautious than usual, and his face grew into a deep scowl. I didn't really understand it since this place seemed to be pretty deserted. As it would turn out, that wasn't the case.

Ellie and I were both looking out the window, when suddenly, Joel slammed on the brakes, causing us to jerk forward a little.

"Easy, Joel," I said with annoyance, then looked to see why he stopped.

A large man with a hoodie had stepped out into the street several feet away from us. He was slouching, and he gripped his side. He genuinely looked hurt.

"Please help…" he said as he started to limp toward the truck.

"Holy shit…" Ellie said.

"Put your seatbelts on," Joel said, shifting the clutch.

"Are we gonna help him?" I asked.

We did as Joel said, and Ellie asked, "What about the guy?"

"He ain't even hurt," Joel answered, slamming on the gas pedal, and the truck catapulted toward the man in the street, who pulled out a gun as we neared him, and shot several bullets at the windshield. Several other men hopped out from behind littered cars, and came toward us as well. One of the bullets hit the windshield, making a hole in it. The truck reached the man, throwing him to the side with very little effort. Another men threw a brick at us, while another smashed the window closest to Ellie and I with a baseball bat. We quickly scooted closer to the front of the truck to avoid the shattering glass, but that was the least of our problems. Through the broken window, we saw a bus coming right at the truck sideways.

"Not good!" Ellie screamed.

Before the bus reached us, I unbuckled my seatbelt, and threw myself over Ellie, slamming her into the backseat in a desperate attempt to protect her. The bus hit the truck, and we were flung sideways, all the while the sounds of a loud crash ringing in our ears. I tightened my grip on her, my head banging against the cushions of the seat. I couldn't see where we were, but I felt a series of bangs and crashes until eventually we stopped.

Everything seemed to stop for a few seconds. The only sound in the air was the sound of the cassette still playing in the player. I lifted myself off of Ellie slightly, surprised that I wasn't really hurt aside from a few cuts and a minor headache.

"Are you okay?" I asked Ellie, holding her face in my hands, while both fear and concern were rising in me.

"I'm okay," she answered, holding the upper part of my arms with her hands, and looking into my eyes. "I'm okay."

I smiled, "thank god."

"Listen," Joel said from the driver's side. "I'm glad you guys are okay, but you need to get out. Quick."

Ellie and I fumbled with her seatbelt, finally managing to get it off. I went to open the door with the shattered window, but before I could, one of the men from outside was there, and opened it, grabbing hold of me, and jerking me out of the truck.

I cried out, twisting and jerking in the man's arms.

"Let go of her, you chickenshit!" Ellie cried out, grabbing hold of one of my legs, and attempting to pull me back in the truck. However, another man to the door closest to her, and pulled her out of the truck, so she was forced to let go of me. I didn't even see what happened to Joel.

"Ellie!" I cried out, twisting more and more in the man's arms, trying desperately to get away, but he was too strong for me. He pulled me off to the side, away from the truck, and in the opposite direction from where the other man had taken Ellie. I felt like a ragdoll, being tossed around every which way. The scenery was a complete blur, but I knew the concrete floor when I slammed into it. I lay on my side with my eyes closed, fresh pain racing through me, then I was jerked so that I was laying on my back. I felt a huge weight on my hips, and I let out a cry before opening my eyes and looking into the face of the man, who was now straddling me. He looked at me with an intense look in his eye, and gripped my wrists holding them above my head. I began to wiggle under his grip, but he only laughed.

"Face it, you're not strong enough, sweetheart," his voice was rough and somehow demanding.

I gathered a large amount of spit in my mouth, and spat up in his face. It was a direct hit to the eye, but as quick as I got satisfaction for that, he grabbed hold of both my wrists with one hand, and slapped me across the face with the other.

"Don't fight, and I won't kill you," he said.

"Fuck you!" I screamed, knowing exactly what he meant to do, and trying not to show my fear.

He leaned down close to my ear, so close that I could smell the stench of his breath, and whispered, "I like 'em feisty."

I screamed, and if I'd heard it come from anyone else, a shiver would've run up my spine. I knew begging would get me no where other than more humiliation. I wanted desperately to look away, but for some reason I couldn't I just looked at him as he fumbled with the buttons on my jeans. He was only able to use one hand, so I knew that would buy me some time. Since I couldn't look away, I closed my eyes and waited for what was ahead. Then suddenly, I heard what sounded like a kind of scream and drops of something on my arms. The man's grip loosened on my wrists, then let go, the weight was gone off of me, and there was a thud next to me.

I opened my eyes, and looked right into the eyes of Ellie leaning over me, her knife in her hand, bloody to the hilt. I then jerked my head to the side, noticing my attacker, dead with blood pooling around him from a deep neck wound. Ellie had obviously stabbed him. I looked down at my jeans, and they weren't even unbuttoned.

"Kara!" Ellie said, throwing the knife to the side, and moving to my upper body, and helped me lift my torso. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, Ellie!" I cried, tears suddenly filling my eyes, and I flung myself at her, burying my face in her chest, and wrapping my arms tightly around her. Her arms were instantly around me, and held me tightly against her. I sobbed hard into her chest until my body began to shake.

"He almost…" I said between sobs. "I was so scared."

"I know," she stopped me, stroking my hair and rocking me back and forth. "I wasn't gonna let that happen. I'll never let anyone hurt you."

That started an entirely new round of sobs for me, and she just held me. Then I heard Joel's voice, "thank god you're both okay." I opened my eyes to see him lean down to our level. I was glad to see that he was okay too.

"What happened?" he asked.

"That guy," Ellie pointed to where my attacker lay dead. "He tried to…hurt Kara." She didn't want to actually say the word, and I was thankful. I didn't want to cry any more than necessary.

"That son of a bitch," Joel sighed, his voice filled with anger, which softened as he spoke to me. "Kara, come here."

He held his arms out to me, and I released my grip on Ellie, and moved over to hug him. I thought it'd be awkward, but it wasn't. He'd never hugged me before, really, so it was short, but it felt nice all the same, almost fatherly.

"I'm so sorry," he said to me, releasing me, and allowing me to move back over to where Ellie was. "You've been through so much already in just a few days."

"Thank you for finally recognizing that fact," I said, feeling a bit more like myself.

"We gotta get going," Joel said. "Are you gonna be okay, Kara?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Always am." I was beginning to realize that I was learning to bounce back incredibly quick from things like this.

Joel smiled a little, then stood up, running to the truck, and throwing our backpacks in our direction. "There's gonna be more guys where those came from," he said. Ellie grabbed our bags, handing me mine. We slung our bags over our shoulders, and Ellie picked up her knife, rubbing the blood off on her jeans.

"Stay close," I said to Ellie, bringing out my revolver, anticipating that some men would be just outside of the open space leading outdoors.

"Always am," Ellie assured, grabbing hold of my free hand.


	21. Chapter 21: Move On

_Chapter 21: Move On_

The hokey country music was still playing in the truck as we began shooting the men that were coming at us. Joel loaded his gun immediately, and aimed it in their general direction.

"I'm gonna go ahead to buy you a few minutes," he said to me as I wiped the tears from my eyes while trying to reload my gun. "Take your time, okay?"

I looked at his face, and on it was a look of genuine concern for me that I hadn't seen before in all the years I'd known him. He'd always looked out for me, but he'd never told me to take a minute to gather myself or anything remotely close to it. He would normally just give me a few brief moments before we had to get moving again. I wasn't sure what changed in him in the last few minutes, but I smiled and nodded all the same.

He went on ahead, and I tried to reload my gun as fast as I could. It was hard, though, since my hands were shaking from what just happened. I shook them up and down to try and get them to stop, but it was no use. At least my breathing was normal.

"Here," Ellie said, noticing me struggling, and taking my gun from me to reload it herself.

"Thanks," I said as she finished, taking the gun back and letting out a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ellie asked, giving me the same amount of concern as Joel had, only with her, it was slightly different. I couldn't figure out how, though.

"Yeah," I answered. "Just shaken up, that's all." Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, but at the same time, I didn't expect to have this kind of reaction to it. It wasn't like I was almost killed; in fact, I've been through that numerous times in my life. That couldn't have been any worse. However, I had to admit that I'd never been more scared in my life. Not of dying, or guns, or the infection. Somehow, that man leaning over me was the worst fear I'd ever experienced.

"I'm here for you, you know," Ellie said.

I smiled down at her, and stroked her jaw line with my free hand. "I know," I said. "I appreciate that, but I'm really okay. You cry about it, and you move on."

Ellie nodded, knowing I was right. I'd never been glad for the fast pace of this world before, but in that moment, I was. I didn't want to dwell on what happened. I just wanted to forget. I then allowed myself to follow Joel out into the street, keeping close by him so that we could move more quickly together. Although I was still a little shaky, I quickly found a way to release the tension bubbling up in me. Most of the men looked like my attacker, and shooting them down was one of the greatest feeling I'd ever felt. It was easy for me to imagine that they were all him, and by shooting them, I was able to feel better with every bullet. My only came when all the men were dead.

"That all of them?" I asked, a frown crossing over my face.

"Take it easy, Kara," Joel said, walking over to where I was. "You shot a whole bunch of 'em."

"More than usual, I'd say," Ellie added.

"Well, it was therapeutic," I said, reloading the revolver.

Joel just laughed, "I'll never understand how you bounce back as quick as you do."

"I'm Tess's niece," I said, shocking both of them as I spoke her name. "That means I'm a survivor. Plain and simple."

Joel seemed to take in what I said, and nodded in agreement, "let's move along."

We then began to see Pittsburgh for what it was. In truth, it was far more depressing than Boston because of the sheer fact that it was deserted. Everything seemed so dark and foreboding. Graffiti lined the stone, and there was more rust than anything. We walked quickly and quietly down streets and through buildings until we eventually came to a closed garage door to a building that seemed pretty promising. Joel began to lift on the door, but he was only able to hold it about three feet off the ground. I came to his side and started to hold it with him, while Ellie crawled underneath the door to see if she could find anything inside to use to keep the door propped up.

"Umm," we heard her say when she crawled under the door. "There's some pretty gnarly stuff in here…"

"Ellie!" Joel called to her to make her keep looking. I didn't know about him, but the weight of the door was beginning to cut into my hands.

I heard the sound of Ellie finding the chain that lifted and lowered the door. She tugged on it until she herself was holding the door up instead of Joel and me.

"Come on," she instructed, and we quickly crawled under the door, helping her lower the door behind us as gently as humanly possible. We didn't want to alert anyone else who may be around.

"Look," Ellie said, turning the opposite direction of the door. There was a table in front of us, with one light bulb shining down on it. On the table was a body, thinning and boned with decay. All around the room were piles of clothes that'd all belonged to different people at one point or another. Ellie was right; things were pretty gnarly in here, but I'd seen worse. It was almost sad really; how desensitized I was.

"Fucking hunters," Joel said to himself. "See, this could've been us."

"Man," Ellie said, taking it all in. "That's a lot of people that didn't make it."

I looked at Ellie to see her eyes widened out, and looking at everything in awe. I didn't know if she was scared or not, but I put my arm around her, rubbing her shoulder, just in case.

"Hey," I said as she gave me a small smile. "This will never be us, okay? We're gonna protect each other, the three of us." I knew I'd protect her with everything I had, and when it came down to it, I knew that Joel would too.

"You gonna take care of me?" Ellie asked, mimicking what I said back when we first got the truck in Bill's Town. I smiled, pressing my forehead to the side of her head, "you bet."

"I knew I should've turned the damn truck around," Joel said, picking up supplies around the room.

"We lived," Ellie pointed out.

"Barely," he specified.

"Always optimistic, Joel," I said.

"I'm being honest. Come on, you two. Let's just get out of here."

We went out of the room, and into an area with a flight of stairs. I couldn't make out even what this building may have been used for. It was completely grey and metal and depressing. I just wanted out of there all together.

"How did you know?" Ellie asked Joel as we went up the stairs.

"Know what?" he asked.

"About the ambush." I wanted to know the answer to this too, but I hadn't thought to ask him.

"I've been on both sides," he answered, which didn't surprise me. I didn't know much about Joel's life before Boston. He told me what he wanted to, and I didn't want to probe him about it. It seemed to bring up bad memories for him, so for the most part, I just left it alone. I lived for bits and pieces of his life like that, being as I was incredibly curious despite not wanting to push any buttons.

Ellie didn't seem to share my views, "so, you kill a lot of innocent people?"

Instead of responding to her, he just grunted.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Take it however you want."

"Is he always this talkative?" Ellie asked me sarcastically.

"He doesn't like to talk about his life," I said. "And honestly, I don't like to ask. I think it makes him sad."

"Oh," Ellie said, looking down at the floor as we walked. I don't think she thought of it like that before.

As we walked, it became very clear that this was where the ambushers slept. There were dirty mattresses in many of the rooms with measly blankets and empty food cans. I didn't know how anyone could stand to live the way they did, but the survival instinct really fucked with some people; it made people do shit they wouldn't normally do. Outside the building, that was most apparent when we saw piles of scorched bodies like we had back at Bill's, only these piles were different.

"I don't think these guys were infected," Ellie said, looking at them.

"I think you're right," I said.

"It don't matter. Let's just keep moving," Joel said. I couldn't tell if he really wanted us to get out of there quickly, or he just didn't want us looking at the piles. Maybe a little of both.

"See that bridge?" he asked us, pointing to a yellow arch in the distance. "That's our way out of here."

"Great," I said as Ellie and I started to walk ahead of him.

"Hey, guys. Wait for me," he called out, rushing up to us.

"What, we're right here," Ellie said.

"How about you let me go first, and keep your voices down." His voice sounded very much like an angry parent. It was kind of funny under the circumstances.

"Okay," Ellie said in a lower voice that she made sound like that of man. It made me laugh, but Joel didn't seem too amused.

We were on the outskirts of the city now, and we even found the entrance to the quarantine zone, or at least what was left of it. There was a checkpoint, but it didn't look like anyone had been here for a long time.

"It's strange seeing a checkpoint with no soldiers," I said.

"This is what most zones look like," Joel informed us. "This place has been abandoned for a long time."

Ellie and I walked over to one of the walls, where a graffiti message said 'stop feeding us lies. Give us our rations.'

"Why wouldn't they give them their food?" Ellie asked after she'd read it.

"Sometimes they ran out. Most of the time, they just held on to it."

"That never happened in Boston."

"Trust me, it happened all the time," I answered before Joel could. "We went hungry plenty of times. Well, I didn't as much as Joel and Tess. They gave me their food a lot of times." I thought back to those nights when all the rations were gone, and I was the only one who had food in my stomach. Many times, they were so hungry that they couldn't sleep. I would sometimes feel really guilty about it, but Tess would always tell me not to; that it was their choice what they did with their food, and they were choosing to give it to me.

"You really gave her your food?" Ellie asked Joel, bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah," Joel said. "She needed it more than we did." I smiled despite myself. To them, I hadn't been a kid, really, but they still looked out for me.

We turned our backs on that abandoned checkpoint and didn't look back. We then went through a series of buildings and alleyways, all the while getting closer to the bridge. I began to notice that Ellie and I were sticking closer to Joel than we had before. I didn't know if it meant anything, but it certainly felt like we were getting places faster now that were closer together. Soon, we made it to an area that was probably a street once, but was now a large pond. The hunters had made a makeshift bridge out of two buses in the middle of the pond, one end going into a coffee shop, the other going into a hotel. The two buses weren't quite long enough to touch, so there was a long plank between them. When we approached the area, there were two hunters standing on it.

"Hey, get down," Joel said, moving us behind an old car to wait until they left.

"Hurry up with that plank," one of them called out while the other one pulled up the plank so that it wasn't connecting the two sides anymore. They then walked into the hotel.

"Goddammit," I said when they were out of sight. "Gotta fix the bridge."

"We're like Bob the Builder in this bitch," Ellie said.

"Bob the who?" I asked, never having heard of that.

Ellie just laughed, "it's a TV show. They played episodes for the little kids in school."

"Lucky sons of bitches," I said, feeling jealous. I couldn't remember ever laying eyes on a TV show.

"Well, there's the bridge," Joel said, looking out into the distance. It was fairly close now. We started walking through the water until it got to the point where it was too deep. Joel and I began to swim, but Ellie stayed back, finding the top of a car to stand on.

"I can't make that jump," Joel said as the two of us swam over to the gap between the two buses.

"If you can get me up there, I can move that plank," Ellie called after us.

Once inside the gap, we could see that one of the buses was open, and it lead up to the coffee shop.

"You find a way to get her up to the plank," Joel said to me. "I'll see where this goes."

"Okay," I said, swimming to the other side of the bridge while Joel went up into the bus. On this side of the bridge, there was a wooden palette, and it seemed sturdy enough for her to stand on. I grabbed hold of it, and swam it over to Ellie, who gently stepped on it. Thankfully, it held her weight.

"How come you know how to swim?" Ellie asked me as I swam her over to the bridge.

"Someone taught me," I said. "I could swim before I could walk; or at least, that's what they tell me."

"I wish I knew how," Ellie said, climbing up to the top of the bus.

"Maybe I'll teach you one day," I said.

"I'd like that." She held her hand down to me, and I took hold of it. She hoisted me up onto the bus with more strength than I thought she had.

"Thanks," I said, ringing out my hair.

"No problem." She'd said it absent-mindedly, as she seemed very interested in me ringing out my hair. When I was finished, I said, "what?"

"Nothing," she said. "Your hair's just…I don't know, really pretty."

"My hair, huh?" I asked as I plopped the plank down to that it joined the two sides of the bridge again.

"Yep," Ellie said.

"Anything else?" I hadn't meant it in flirting way. I thought she'd say something like the blood stains on my shirt, or the way the dirt that caked my face looked in the moonlight, or some bullshit like that. However, that's not what I got.

Ellie just walked over to me, standing next to that plank, said, "yep" again, and walked over the plank to the coffee shop where Joel was. I was taken aback. Did she just flirt with me? I dared not ask to be on the safe side.

I followed her into the coffee shop, which was all mainly covered in water and old bottles. The smell of it almost made my eyes water.

"God, this place stinks!" Ellie called out.

"Yeah, wood's all rotted," Joel said, appearing out from behind a counter.

"Did you go to coffee shops a lot?" Ellie asked.

"I did. All the time."

"What would you get?" I chimed in.

"Just coffee."

"That's boring," I said to just Ellie as the three of us walked back to the bridge and towards the hotel. "I'd get one of them fancy schmancy drinks, and drink with a look that screamed 'I'm better than all of you peasants."

Ellie laughed, "I'd be right there with you, doing the exact same thing."

"Total BFF's," I said, using a valley girl accent. She just laughed some more.

As we approached, she asked Joel, "you think those hunters are gone?"

"We're about to find out," he answered.


	22. Chapter 22: Silly Girl

**Author's Note: Okay, this is the chapter a lot of you have probably been waiting for! What do I mean by that? Read the chapter, and find out. Also, make sure to review because I'm particularly happy with this one. Enjoy it, guys! ~Amanda**

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><p><em>Chapter 22: Silly Girl<em>

The hotel was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The main room was so spacious and open, with red and white walls with different designs carved in surrounding the entire thing. There was one main staircase at the back of the room, broken halfway up, leading to a second floor and an elevator. Like outside, the room was now covered in water, however, and the smell of musty furniture and rotting wood filled the air.

"Woah, this is fancy," Ellie said as we all hopped down into the room from a window. "Ever stay in a place like this, Joel? Before it all went to shit, I mean."

"No," he said. "This is too rich for my blood."

"I bet it was nice," I piped in, wading through the water with Ellie to what looked like the front desk.

"I would give almost anything to stay in a place like this, assuming it was all fixed up," she said.

"Yeah, me too. I've never even stepped foot in a place half as nice as this," I replied.

"Neither have I."

"Hey you guys?" Joel called from the other side of the room.

"Yeah?" I called.

"I found a ladder. I bet we could get up to the second floor with it."

With a shrug, Ellie and I walked over to where Joel stood, placing the ladder against the wall to the left of the staircase. Joel went up it first, just to make sure everything was stable. He walked around a few feet, then called down to us, "come on up."

I let Ellie climb up before me, since I was pretty sure that I could easily catch her if she slipped. We made it up just fine, in any case. Up here, it was more apparent how nice it all was, yet it somehow seemed too consistent. Everything looked exactly like the thing next to it. It bothered me slightly. As we went up further levels of the hotel, monotony was king.

"Okay, we need to lighten the mood," Ellie said as we climbed, pulling out a book from her backpack.

"The hell is that?" Joel asked her.

"It's a book of puns. They're good trust me."

"I wanna hear," I said.

"Okay," Ellie cleared her throat. "It doesn't matter how far you push the envelope. It'll still be stationary."

I giggled, "I love corny jokes like that."

Joel sighed, "Jesus Christ."

Soon, we came outside to a little terrace that linked three different rooms together. There wasn't anything there but an air conditioning unit and some pipes, but that became helpful when we heard voices of the hunters in one of the rooms. Ellie and I hid behind the pipes; Joel the AC unit.

"Those tourists put up a hell of a fight," one of the hunters said. "It took two of us to put 'em down." Guess they weren't talking about us.

"Wait, how many is that now?" Another said.

"About five this week, but I'm not complaining."

"I bet you're not. We done here?"

"We got another floor to check, man."

"Check for what? I ain't seen a Clicker in weeks."

They talked for a little while longer, walking away through the rooms. I touched my revolver in the back of my pants, but I didn't feel that it was necessary to bring it out yet. We could probably just strangle them, and be done without alarming any more of them. That seemed to be what Joel was thinking too as we climbed in through one of the windows after them. We followed relatively close behind them, and it became clear to me that the rooms were much like the rest of the place. They were all the same. I didn't really understand why, but now was not the time to ask questions. The two men were easy enough to take out, but as we walked through the rooms, there were plenty more hunters where those came from. Since I wasn't strong enough to strangle one on my own, Ellie pitched in with me, while Joel took on others by himself. It was reminiscent of the times when we had Tess with us. I smiled to myself thinking about it. It was like she was still here.

"Here, let's see where this goes," Joel said after some time. We'd come to an elevator, which clearly it hadn't been in use for some time because the hunters had put up a ladder leading to an open hatch in the ceiling. One by one, we climbed through it, and Ellie had the sense to close the hatch once we were all standing on top of the elevator.

"Just in case," she said.

The elevator shaft itself was divided in half. We were on one side, and on the other was another elevator, and above it was an open door leading to the next level of the hotel. That elevator was lower than the one we were standing on, and Joel jumped down on it first to make sure everything was okay. When he landed on it, a loud bang reverberated through the room, and vibrated the walls. It seemed safe enough, so Ellie and I hopped down next to him, which seemed to only make the room vibrate more, but that was it.

"Okay, I'll lift you two up, and you find me something to climb on," Joel said. He lifted Ellie up first, who had to use his shoulder to help hoist herself up all the way. When Joel got to me, that's when trouble happened. He hoisted me up with ease, and I began to use the floor of the next level to help get myself further up, but it was too late. There was another loud crash, and suddenly, I couldn't feel Joel beneath me anymore. I hadn't had a good enough grip on the floor to make it on my own, so I began to fall backwards. Before I could, however, I felt Ellie grab my hand, and hoist me up to the next level.

We both sat on the floor for a brief moment, breathing heavily, and then turned our attention to the elevator shaft, where the elevator had fallen to the bottom floor, creating a huge splash in the water that flooded it. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything, and we had no way of knowing whether Joel had made it or not.

"Joel!" Ellie and I both called down, creating an echo in the elevator shaft, and rampant fear in our hearts.

"I'm alright!" We both heard him say from down below, causing us both to sigh of relief. "Are you okay?"

"No!" Ellie cried. "You scared the shit out of us!"

"Joel, we're gonna climb down, okay?" I called, trying to find something in the shaft to climb down.

"No!" he called up to us. "Stay up there, I'll make my way up to you." We then heard him make splashes to one side.

"Well, now what the fuck are we gonna do?" Ellie said, as the echoes of Joel's splashing faded away.

"We look around, I guess," I said, turning around, and walking on down the hallway. It felt kind of weird to be here with her completely alone, but I tried not to let it show. This floor looked exactly like the ones below it. The walls were the same color; the rooms were in the same places, as were the windows.

"Why do you think they made everything look the same as the other floors?" Ellie asked, walking over to one of the room doors, and standing by it.

"I don't know," I answered, moving to stand next to her. "Consistency, I guess."

"Fuck consistency," she said, opening the door to the room, and walking in. "See even the rooms all look the same."

It was true. The only thing different from room to room was the layout. There was the same green wallpaper, the faded carpet, and the rusty bathroom. The style of furniture was all the same, as was the bedspread and sheets on the bed. The window was in the same place as most of the other rooms, and a slight breeze filtered in through the broken glass, causing the pale curtains to move slightly.

"See, if I had a hotel like this, nothing would ever be the same," she said passionately, moving her arms around, envisioning everything. "Everything would look so different that people wouldn't even have to look at the room numbers. It'd just be 'yours is the pirate room, third floor,' and they would know."

"Is that what you would do in a different world?" I asked.

"Totally."

I walked over to the single bed, sat down on the foot of it, which was the most comfortable thing I'd probably ever sat on, and threw my backpack on the ground. It felt nice to be able to sit down for a second and relax. I relished times like this because I never knew when I'd get a chance to do it again.

"Ellie, you gotta check out this bed," I said, stretching out my arms. She didn't answer me, and when I looked at her to see why, I noticed she was standing by a dresser, holding something.

"What d'you got?" I asked. She turned slowly towards me, revealing that she was holding an old hand mirror that'd been left behind by someone.

"You ever wonder who the people were who left things like this?" she asked me. "Or how long ago they left it? Things must've been so different."

"I try not to," I confessed. "It's too damn depressing for me."

"Yeah," she said, looking at her reflection, and then putting the mirror carefully back down where she found it. I noticed that she had a slightly saddened look on her face now.

"Hey, Ellie," I said, trying to snap her out of it. "Come sit by me. This bed is amazing." I scooted over slightly, and patted the space next to me.

She took a moment, but she seemed to shake off her feeling as she came over, plopping her bag down next to mine, and sat down, "oh my god!" She moved her body around, feeling the bed from every angle she could.

I laughed at her antics, "you see?"

"This is _way _more comfortable than the beds I slept in at military school," she said.

"I wouldn't know. Never been to one," I told her.

"Did you go to school at all?" she asked, intrigued.

"For a while," I leaned forward a little, placing my elbows on my knees. "I was pretty young. I remember being in a group with a bunch of kinds. We learned bullshit like colors and numbers. You know, things we don't fucking need..."

I paused when she laughed. It wasn't a chuckle; it was a genuine, honest-to-goodness laugh. She tilted her head back, shut her eyes, and everything. I hadn't thought what I said was that funny, but her laughter was so absolutely adorable to me that I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Oh god," she said after a minute or two. "I know exactly what you mean. The only decent things I ever learned were how to read and write. How the fuck is _astronomy _gonna help me when I get into a brick fight?"

"Well, if you know astronomy, then you can know what constellations you're looking at when you see stars after a brick fight," I said, causing us both to laugh again.

After another minute, Ellie and I were both trying to catch our breath. It'd been a while since I laughed that hard. It felt long overdue.

"You know, you're pretty funny," Ellie said.

"Why thank you," I whipped out the most ridiculous voice I could muster.

She chuckled, "it'd be a shame if you got killed trying to defend my unarmed ass."

Well, that escalated quickly. "You know I don't mind defending you," I said.

"I know, but I just…wish he'd let me have a gun, y'know? It's not like I've never shot one before."

I thought for a moment, then went digging through my bag and bringing out my old 6mm that I used before Tess gave me the revolver. "Here," I said, offering it to her. "You can use this if we come across anything before we reach Joel."

She eyed it tentatively, "what happens when we get back to him?"

"Then you give it back to me. He doesn't have to know."

She took the gun slowly from me, and placed it tenderly on top of her bag before looking back at me. There was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn't been there before, "thank you."

I nodded.

"So…" she began, like she wanted to say something, but was too afraid to.

"What?" I felt a small amount of anxiety.

"I want to address the elephant in the room."

"Okay?" I hadn't realized there was one.

"Well, umm," she fought for the words. "Back at Bill's…"

Suddenly I knew, "Is this about the girlfriend comment?"

"Yeah." Dammit. I was hoping she'd forget about that. My anxiety turned to sheer nervousness.

"What about it?"

"Well, I mean…do you…have feelings…?" No, this was not fucking happening. Not right now.

"Because he…said it…and you didn't say anything," she continued.

"What, should I have?" I was suddenly getting defensive, trying to get her off the subject by avoiding it, but knowing I was well and truly dead in my mission to try and keep it cool about this.

"I mean, if you do…" she was obviously getting uncomfortable, and although I wished it wasn't getting brought up like this, I could tell it'd been weighing on her, and she wanted to bring it up. How could I be mad about that? On the other hand, this could go very badly if she didn't feel the same way. Things could get pretty awkward between us.

Despite my worries, I decided to stop avoiding it, and be honest with her. I looked into her eyes, so that she would now I wasn't bullshitting, and they danced just like the night I first sat at the window and talked to her. They seemed more beautiful to me now, though. Now that I knew her, everything about her was better.

"Yeah, I…I like you," I began, feeling my cheeks growing red as I spoke. "I like you a lot. I know that's so stupid to say because everyone always said it takes a long time to know if you like someone, but dammit, this world makes life too short, and I don't really understand everything I'm feeling, and–"

"Shhhh," Ellie said, placing her index finger over my mouth gently, silencing my babbling, and moving her face just inches away from mine. "You talk too much."

Then, she moved her finger away from my mouth, and pressed her lips to mine. Immediately, I felt what could only be described as an explosion in my mind, something I'd never felt before. My body began to tingle, and I reached out my hand, cupping her face with it. She parted her lips slightly from my touch, allowing the warmth of her breath to graze my face, and her scent to engulf me further. My eyes opened slightly, and I saw that she was waiting, asking permission to kiss me again. As if she even had to ask. I pulled her mouth to mine again, feeling the tenderness of her lips as they gently played with mine. It was like they were butterflies, softly flying with each other.

In my life, I'd kissed people before, but never like I kissed her. All kinds of feelings were swelling up inside me. With her, everything seemed so new and yet somehow equally as familiar; like I had come home after a long journey. I'd never felt this way with anyone before; never anything so right. Our lips parted after a few brief moments, and I pressed my forehead gently against hers, and we just looked at each other.

"So does this mean you like me?" I asked, making her giggle slightly.

"Silly girl," she teased me. "I've liked you basically this whole time."

"Why?" I asked. "I mean, I'm glad because I was all paranoid about it, but…"

She laughed, "you were the first one to _really _talk to me. You believed me when no one else would, and made me trust you when I didn't want to trust anyone. Plus, I'm still alive because of you."

"Damn," I said. "And here I was just liking you for those eyes of yours."

She smiled and pulled her forehead away from me, wrapping her arms around my waist, and pulling me into a hug. I rested my head on her shoulder, and she pressed her face against the back of my head, into my hair.

"God, you smell good," she whispered, inhaling deeply.

"I could say the same for you," I said. "What do I smell like?" I never thought to ask anyone that before, but I was curious now.

"Like dirt."

"Gee, thanks. Every girl likes to hear that."

"No, the good kind of dirt," she explained. "You smell like the earth. Like life. I love it."

"Aww," I said, smiling against her shoulder. "I haven't figured out what you smell like yet. It's a mixture of a lot of things."

"What, shit and sweat?"

I laughed, "I'll let you know."

We stayed like that for a few more moments until she sighed. "K, we gotta go find Joel."

"Is 'K' my lover's nickname?" I asked, unhappy to be ending this moment between us.

"You bet." We pulled away from each other, and grabbed our gear before heading for the door. I watched as Ellie put my gun in her back pocket and getting a smile on her face. I think she was finally starting to feel useful. As we left, I noticed the number of the room. 314.

"So, are we like…girlfriends now?" I asked as we walked down the hallway, toward the opposite way of which we came.

"I don't know," she said. "I've never been anyone's girlfriend before."

"Well neither have I," I said bluntly.

"Do you want to?" she asked.

"Well…yeah, I kinda do."

"Okay, then," she said. "But it can't be just like that. You gotta be all romantic and ask me."

"Wait wait," I said, stopping, "why the fuck do I have to ask?"

"Because you're older," she laughed.

"Oh, no. That is so…ageist of you."

"Ageist? Did you just make that word up?"

"No!" We were both trying not to laugh. This conversation was so ridiculous, yet so funny.

"Fine," Ellie finally said before grabbing hold of my hands, and standing on her toes to kiss me. "Be mine?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said, putting on my best Southern accent, causing her to hunch over with laughter. "You keep kissing me like that, I'll be whatever the hell you want."

"You sound just like Joel, oh my god," she said in-between fits.

"Yeah," I kept it going, and making a scowl with my face, trying to be as stereotypical as I possibly could. "I'm really a Texas boy named Timmy."

"Fucking stop, I'm gonna bust a gut."

"C'mon, Ellie," I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and led her down the hall with a bow legged cowboy walk. "Gotta go get them cows before they start eatin' them chickens."

"The name's Betty Sue," she said, adding in her own awful version of a southern accent. "And cows don't eat chickens, stupid!"

"I knew that."


	23. Chapter 23: You're Welcome

_Chapter 23: You're Welcome_

"God, where are these motherfuckers?" Ellie asked as we explored the floor of the hotel.

"You just wanna shoot that gun," I said. We both held our weapons in both hands, weary of any hunters we might find.

"You're damn right! The second we find Joel, it's 'sayonara, gun.'"

I sighed, wishing that didn't have to be the case, "well, it's been a while since we got separated, so maybe we should make our way down to him, make things easier."

"Sure, but where the fuck is 'down,' exactly?"

"I don't know. I guess look for some stairs or something."

"Yeah. We're on the third floor, so it shouldn't be too hard finding him with only a floor between him and us."

"Actually, Ells," I pointed out. "I think he feel into the basement."

"Son of a bitch!"

Finding stairs was actually much easier than we thought. We felt safe enough to put our guns in the back of our pants, as we listened in the staircase for any movement up or down. There wasn't any, and from there, it was just a matter of walking down the flights stairs until I stopped at the first floor.

"I thought you said he fell to the basement," Ellie said, almost going down another flight.

"Yeah, but he's probably made his way up to the first floor by now," I said, opening the door onto the floor itself.

"Fair point, girlfriend," she said, grabbing my hand before I could walk through, and making me blush red. "Fair point." When she called me her girlfriend, butterflies few up in my stomach.

We held each other's hands as we walked around a bit on the first floor, instantly recognizing the main room that we'd come into in the beginning.

"We've already been here," I said.

"Yeah, but there's some doors over here that we haven't checked," Ellie said, pointing out a set of double doors off to the side that we hadn't noticed before. We walked through them, and straight into what used to be a fancy restaurant. There were tables and booths set up around the room. A few of the tables even had old vases for flowers and candles. There was a place for a buffet station at one end, and a few chandeliers that were all pretty much broken.

"Oh, sweet!" Ellie said, taking everything in, and walking over to one of the tables meant for two people, and sitting down at it.

"What are you doing?" I asked, walking over to her.

"I'm sitting down to a fancy dinner, what's it look like?" she said, picking up a stray menu on the table, and looking it over.

"Aren't we supposed to be finding Joel?" I asked, knowing that we were kind of getting off track for about the millionth time today.

"Listen, there are only so many places he could be, and chances are he'll find us just as easily as we'll find him, so pop a squat and enjoy this with me," she said, giving me one of those genuine smiles of hers. How could I resist that?

"Alright," I said, grabbing a menu off one of the other tables, and sitting in the chair opposite her.

"Yes, Jeeves, my good man," Ellie said, glancing to the side as if she were talking to a waiter. "I'll have your finest glass of chocolate milk."

"Jesus Christ, Ellie," I said, giggling. "You go to a fancy restaurant, and you wanna order _chocolate fucking milk_?"

"Kara!" she said with fake horror. "That's no way to speak in front of Jeeves. He's being ever so patient and waiting on your slow ass to order a _beverage_!"

I laughed the entire time she was talking, but then pulled myself together, deciding to play along, "fine. Jeeves, man. I'll have a beer."

This time, Ellie laughed, "a beer?"

"Hell yeah, it's the drink of champions. But you're one to talk with your damn chocolate milk bullshit."

"Okay, bear may be the drink of champions, but chocolate milk is the drink of the gods."

"I wouldn't know. I've never had it."

"Then you haven't lived!" she said, suddenly glaring at the menu. "Also, can you pronounce anything on this fucking menu?"

I glanced down at it, searching for any meaning to any of these words I was looking at, "not a damn thing. I wonder what language that is…"

"It's French," she said suddenly.

"How do you know?"

"There's crème brûlée in the dessert section."

"Oh!" I giggled.

Our fun was short-lived because we then heard gunshots coming from the side of the restaurant we hadn't explored yet.

"You think that's Joel?" I asked.

"One way to find out," Ellie said, hopping up from her chair, and running toward the direction of the gunshots, pulling out the gun. I followed her in hot pursuit, and as we neared that side, I saw that there was a kind of puddle in the middle of the floor in front of a blocked off elevator shaft. Beside the puddle was a hunter, holding someone's head down in the puddle in an attempt to drown them. That someone was Joel.

"Joel!" We both cried out, running over towards them. I never actually made it to them, though, for I spotted another one hiding among the booths, and he popped out as soon as he saw us, thinking we were easy pickings. I decided to take care of him, making a hard right, and pulling out my revolver. He wasn't as stealthy as he thought he was; two bullets later, he was dead. I turned my attention to where the action was going on with Joel. I was going to go over and help, but I didn't have to. Without hesitating, Ellie aimed the 6mm at the hunter who was holding Joel, and fired into the side of his head, causing him to fall to the side, and Joel was able to finally raise his head above the water and breathe.

I came over to them, but it was silent for a few moments. I saw the look on Ellie's face. She'd never shot someone before. I could tell it got to her a little.

"Man…" she said. "I shot the hell outta that guy, huh?"

"Yeah, you sure did," Joel said, standing up in the water.

"You did what you had to," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder, but she sat down on the floor.

"I feel sick," she said, looking up at me. "Like I did back when I knifed that guy to save you."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

"It didn't matter," she answered. "You needed me." It was true.

"Where the hell did you get that gun?" Joel said, eyeing the 6mm that was still in her hand. Both of us froze.

"Umm," Ellie said, holding the gun up to me. "Want your gun back, Kara?"

I took it from her, knowing full well that Joel was going to rip me a new ass cheek. So much for working on the gun issue slowly.

"You gave her a fucking gun?" Joel said, placing his hands on his hips, and giving me the angriest look I've ever seen. "After I told you specifically not to?"

"She needs to protect herself, Joel," I said, feeling an even stronger desire to defend her now that she was my girlfriend. "And it looks like you're fucking lucky she did have it, because you'd probably be dead if she didn't!"

"I'm lucky I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid!"

"If she's a kid, then what the hell am I?" I argued, getting angrier by the minute. "Guess what, there's a year between her and I, Joel. That's not that big of an age gap."

"That's different!" he shouted. "I taught you how to shoot myself. I know you know how to work that thing."

"You know what? No!" Ellie chimed in, standing. "How about 'hey, Ellie. I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me, so thanks for _saving my ass_.' You got anything like that for me, Joel?"

He just shook his head, "we gotta get going."

"Lead the way," I said, still pissed off.

"We need to get back out, and find that bridge."

"Just tell us where to go."

We went through the rest of the hotel in relative silence. I was still pissed off, so I wasn't going to offer much by way of conversation. Ellie, sensing this, didn't try to talk to me. Instead, she just walked beside me, silently offering herself in case I wanted to say something, but not pressuring me at the same time. It was a nice medium. Even though I was mad, things felt nicer in a way now that Ellie and I were a couple. All this time, it'd felt like this huge secret I had to keep from her, but now that it was out in the open, and she felt the same, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It felt nice; _she _felt nice.

Roaming around the hotel, trying to find a way out, we came across an open window that lead out onto a fire escape. The three of us hopped through the window, and discovered that we had a very good view of the ground below from the fire escape. We looked below us, and discovered that there were numerous hunters, roaming the streets.

"Oh, shit!" Joel said quietly, ducking behind a plank of wood that served as a banister. He then motioned for Ellie and I saying, "come here. Keep your heads down." We moved next to him, squatting behind the piece of wood, and watching the hunters.

"Alright now…" he said. "I'm gonna jump down there with Kara, and we're gonna clear us a path."

"What about me?" Ellie asked.

"You stay here." I didn't like the sound of that. Anything that involved me leaving her there didn't sit right with me.

"This is so stupid," Ellie said. "We'd have more of a fucking chance if you'd let me help."

"I am!" Joel said, looking to the side of him, and picking up a stray hunting rifle. "Now, you seem to know your way around a gun. Reckon you could handle that?" He offered the rifle to her.

"Well…" she hesitated, slowly taking it. "I sorta shot a rifle before. But it was at rats."

"Rats?" he asked, a hint of fear creeping in his voice.

"With BB's." That didn't make it any better. I could hear his thought process now, "this is what I have to deal with?"

He shook his head, "well, it's the same basic concept. Lift it up."

Ellie rose the gun into position, with a little help from Joel, "okay, you're gonna wanna lean right into that stock, 'cause it's gonna kick a hell of a lot more than any BB rifle."

"Okay," her voice shook a little.

"Go ahead and pull the bolt back…" he instructed, continuing once she did it. "As soon as you fire, you're gonna want to get another round in there quick."

She watched him intently, taking in everything he was saying to her. "Listen to me," he began again. "If we get into trouble down there, you make every shot count. Yeah?"

As he explained all that to her, I couldn't help but feel like there was a bonding moment going on between them. It was nice to see after all the shit he'd given her before.

"I got this," she said, rifle aimed and ready to go.

"Alright," he said, standing. "And I know what you're gonna say, Kara. I know you're a better shot than she is, but I need you on the ground for better coverage…"

"No, actually," I surprised him. "I'm good with this." I was so glad he was letting her have a gun finally, I didn't care how it happened.

"Okay," he said.

"You'll do great," I said, turning my attention to Ellie, placing my hand on her shoulder. "I told you he'd come around."

"Yeah," she said, smiling. I was about to stand up, but she cupped my face with one of her hands, stopping me, and looked me straight into my eyes. "Be fucking careful," she said.

"I always am," I said, giving her a strong peck on the lips before standing next to Joel, who'd seen all that, and looked pretty confused.

"What?" I asked. "You've never seen two girls kiss before?" I wasn't going to give him any information about us unless he asked, and by the look on his face, he wasn't going to any time soon. Ellie seemed to be okay with this since she didn't say anything.

Joel just shook his head, "whatever. I don't care what y'all do."

"Good," I said, taking out my revolver, and began to walk down the fire escape.

"Listen, Ellie," I heard Joel say, which stopped me. "Just so we're clear back there…it was either him or me." That was as much of an apology as I'd ever heard him give anyone. He then walked down the fire escape ahead of me.

"You're welcome," Ellie said, looking in our general direction, though he was already out of earshot.


	24. Chapter 24: Lead

_Chapter 24: Lead_

At first I didn't know how it would be to just have Joel and me dealing with the hunters. Yes, Ellie was up above us, shooting with the rifle, but I couldn't help but feel strangely isolated. For as long as I could remember there'd been two people beside me. Now, it was just Joel.

"How do you wanna handle this?" Joel asked to my surprise as we crept down to ground level and reloaded our guns.

"You're asking me?" I asked. This was definitely a first. Joel always liked to take the lead on this stuff.

"Yep," Joel said bluntly.

"Wow, you're letting me lead the assault and giving Ellie a gun…what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," he said. "I was gonna let you lead even if I hadn't given her a gun. 'Bout time you start makin' some decisions."

"And you really trust me to do this?" I could easily get us killed if I made the wrong call.

"Yes," he looked straight into my eyes and said it. I believed him whole-heartedly, and I almost wanted to cry. Almost.

"Okay," I had to think for a moment since I'd never been given this opportunity before. "Let's split up and check out the buildings first, get rid of them in there. Then we'll regroup on the street, and take them out as a team."

"Okay," Joel said, about to head out.

"One more thing," I said, just thinking of something. "Try not to use your gun in the buildings. I don't want either of us to get swarmed."

"What if one of them uses their gun, and one of us gets swarmed anyway?"

"Then the one who isn't swarmed will cover the other. Looks like there are too many to take out alone. Once in the street, you can let it loose."

Joel nodded, "solid plan." I'd expected him to give me at least one counter idea, but that didn't happen.

"Okay, let's do this," I said, starting to crouch into a building, gun at the ready.

I was surprised when Joel actually did what my plan entailed. He went over to the other side of the street, into the buildings as quietly as I'd said. There was still part of me that wondered if I'd just guaranteed us a bullet in the head, but that didn't happen. In fact, the plan went off without a hitch. Being stealthy was a bit daunting because I wondered if I would be able to take them down with just my hands. As it would turn out, though, I was stronger than I thought I was. I tried to strangle the first couple of hunters, and although it worked, it took a lot out of me. After that, I just took to snapping their necks, and that turned out much better. Punching them in the face was added fun.

Unsurprisingly, Joel had killed everyone in his building before I did, and gunshots rang loud and clear in the street. What little amount of hunters still remained in my building raced to the street to fight, but they didn't make much of a difference. Even though Joel and I were skilled killers, there were still times when we were overwhelmed, but always when that happened, a bullet would fly through the air from Ellie's gun, and they were always a hit. I was pretty impressed with her shooting abilities. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but when all the hunters were dead, the sun as beginning set in the distance.

"Alright, come on down!" Joel called to Ellie, who came down the fire escape, hunting rifle still in her hands.

"Good job, Ells," I said, walking over to her.

"You weren't so bad yourself," she said, placing the hunting rifle on the ground, and giving me a tight hug. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Hey, what do I always say?" I said, kissing the top of her head.

"'Always am'?"

"That's right." Ellie and I released each other with a smile.

"You both did fine," Joel called, bending over the body of one of the hunters.

"Kara, when I was watching you guys, you looked just like Tess down there battling it out," Ellie said, making me give her a puzzled look.

"What made you think I looked like Tess?" I asked.

"Well," she said. "You look just fucking like her anyway. Only with long blonde hair."

"What?!" That was the first I'd heard that. "Joel, do I look like Tess?"

He was walking over to us with a small pistol in his hand. He looked at me for a few seconds, and it was if his eyes changed in that time. They went from his normal hard look, to slightly softened, to a bit sad, "yeah. You look just like her." He probably hadn't really paid attention to it until now.

"Next time we come across a mirror, or water, or something, I have to see this," I said. "What's with the pistol, Joel?"

As if remembering what he was doing with it, he held the pistol out to Ellie saying, "how 'bout something a little more your size?"

Ellie reached out her hand to take it, and it jerked it away a few inches at the last minute, saying, "It's for emergencies only." He then gave it to her.

"Okay," she said, tried to hide her happiness. She handled it with care before putting it in the back of her pants.

"You earned that," I said to Ellie, grabbing hold of her hand. She smiled up at me and nodded.

Joel began to lead us again, down the street away from the hotel, and closer to the bridge. Somehow, however, we just seemed to get deeper and deeper into the city. There weren't any hunters as we walked, though, so it didn't bother me much. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to see any infected, or if they were all killed off here. I figured we would have to find out at some point.

"Okay, now the safety's on," Joel explained to Ellie about the gun as we went. "Do you know how to switch it off?"

"I do," she replied.

"Okay, you just…you gotta respect it, that's not a –"

"Joel, I'll be careful."

"Okay."

"He's always like this when he's teaching something," I said, trying to make her feel better about him nagging. "He gets real nervous about shit."

"I can tell," she said.

Our journey led us through multiple buildings and warehouses, and still there were no signs of hunters. I was beginning to relax, but soon, I was on high alert again. We were in a warehouse, in a room that led out to another street, when we heard voices coming from the distance.

"Get down!" Joel instructed, and we hid below a window, peaking out to see what was going on.

"Run!" someone yelled, and a couple came into view. They were scared for their lives, running from something, but they didn't make it very far. As soon as they came into view, two bullets flew, hitting them, and causing them to fall in the street. A huge truck with a dead body roped to the front of it came up to them from behind, and it was clear that it was the thing shooting at them.

"What do we do?" Ellie asked no one in particular.

"Nothing," Joel replied before I could. I hated to admit it, but he was right. There was no way we were any kind of match for that truck, and we couldn't save the couple if we tried. They were as good as dead.

When the truck arrived at the couple, two hunters hopped out of the pick-up, and approached the woman, who was still moving; the man was dead.

"No…" she cried out, pleading for her life, but it didn't help. They shot her again, this time killing her. They then searched her body, and realizing she didn't have any food, hopped back in the pick-up and drove off.

"Oh man…" Ellie said when they were gone. This was nothing new to me, but she'd probably never seen innocent people get killed in cold blood before.

"There's nothing we coulda done," Joel said, saying what I was already thinking.

"I know…it's just…oh man." Ellie knew Joel was right, but that didn't make it any easier to watch. Her breathing became raspy, and I wrapped my arms around her from behind, and placed my head on her shoulder much like she had with me back at Bill's.

"It's okay, Ells," I soothed, and her breathing became a little more normal.

"Let's just get to that bridge," Joel said, getting up to leave.

"Okay," Ellie whispered with a cracked voice. As we got up to follow Joel, I let one arm fall to my side, but I moved the other one so that it was around her shoulders. The first time seeing something like that was always the hardest.

That wasn't the last time we saw the hunters. The more we moved, the more we seemed to find. As we moved from the building we were in to the street, the hunters seemed to multiply even though we were slowly picking them off. It even got to the point where we could hear their conversations echoing off the walls.

"Hearing them talk –" Ellie began as we skirted around the building. "At least they're scared of us."

"Just try not to let your guard down," Joel told her.

"They could be bluffing," I added.

"I'm just saying…it's good having you two on my side," she said, which made me smile.

"Thanks, hun," I said. Joel didn't say anything, which I felt was rude, but I didn't feel like saying anything about it. I had bigger things to worry about at that moment.

All at once shit seemed to hit the fan. It wasn't just hunters we had to deal with anymore. Since we were out on the street, we were spotted by that demon truck that they had. We really should've thought of that. When we saw it coming for us, we took to the buildings and back alleys, though the sound of the bullets still rang through the air.

"We gotta get up as high as possible," Joel said. "It won't be able to reach us from that high up." Thankfully, we'd come to an old apartment building with a fire escape, so we didn't have very far to go. We ran up the fire escape, all the while hearing the sounds of the bullets from the truck. The doors on the fire escape were all blocked off, so when we reached the top tier, we began hopped onto the ledge of the building, and placed our backs against the brick, walking sideways to keep our balance. The sound of the bullets slowly dwindled, and finally disappeared.

"I think we lost 'em," Joel said.

"Endure and survive," Ellie said from behind us.

"Excuse me?" Joel asked, not understanding the reference.

"Savage Starlight," I told him.

"Those damn comic you two've been reading?"

"They're good fucking stories, Joel," Ellie said. "And whenever they get into a fight, they always say 'endure and survive' afterwards."

"…okay," he simply said.

We walked along the edge of the building until we came to an open window. Joel hopped through first, and although I couldn't see it, I heard what sounded like another person. I jumped through quickly after him and noticed there was a man who'd jumped Joel from behind.

"Get off of him!" I cried out, hopping on the man, and trying to pry him off, though it wasn't doing much good. Ellie tried to join the mix too, but by that time, the man had become aware of me, and threw me off him and right into her. We slammed into the ground in a heap.

"What the fuck?" the man said, seeing us for the first time, and hesitating slightly. This gave Joel the opportunity to get the man off his back, and start punching him.

"Joel, stop!" Ellie said as the two of us scrambled to our feet. "Look." At the other end of the room was a boy about Ellie's and my age, waiting, with a pistol raised in our direction. Noticing this, Joel stopped punching the man.

"Leave him alone," the kid instructed, and Joel stood.

Joel put his hands up and moved over to where Ellie and I were standing. She too put up her hands, but I wasn't afraid. I immediately took out my revolver and aimed it at the kid, who then aimed his gun directly at me.

"Don't do anything stupid here, kid," I told him.

"The fuck are you doing, Kara?" Ellie asked.

"He wants to threaten the people I love, I don't fucking think so."

"It's alright," the man said to the kid, who was still lying on the floor. "They're not the bad guys. Lower the gun."

The kid lowered the gun slowly, but hesitated, since I still had mine aimed and ready.

"Kara, you too," Joel said. I didn't budge.

"K," Ellie said, placing her hand on my arm. "It's okay, really." I was only willing to do it after she said it. I was just as hesitant as the kid, but the same time, we both lowered our guns, keeping an eye on each other as we did. Tensions eased after that, so I put the revolver away.

"Man, you hit hard," the man said, getting to his feet. I finally got a good look at him. He was tall, with large muscles; bright blood trickled down his arm, creating a contrast against the darkness of his skin. His eyes were kind, though, along with his voice.

"Well, I was trying to kill you," Joel said.

"Yeah, I thought you were one of them too. Then I saw them." He pointed at Ellie and me. "If you haven't noticed, they don't keep kids around. Survival of the fittest." I hadn't thought of that, but it made sense.

"You're bleeding," the kid said, noticing the blood.

"It's nothing," he answered, taking the gun from the kid, and began to search through the backpack on the kid's shoulders for a bandage. "I'm Henry, this is Sam."

He looked at Joel, then at me, "I think I caught your names were Joel and Kara?"

Ellie raised her hand, "Ellie."

"How many are with you?" Joel asked.

"They're all dead," Sam said.

"Hey, we don't know that," Henry said to him, then turned his attention back t us. "There were a bunch of us. Someone had the brilliant idea of entering the city. Look for supplies. Lose fuckers – they ambushed us. Scattered us. Now it's all about getting out of this shithole."

"We can help each other," Ellie suggested. Joel put his hand on her arm, stopping her. He was a little more cautious about people than she was, obviously.

"Ellie," he warned.

"Safety in numbers and all that," she said.

"She has a point, Joel," I said.

"They're right," Henry said. "We could help each other. We got a hideout not too far from here. Be safer if we chat there."

Joel looked at the two of us, who were already onboard with this plan, then looked back to Henry. "Okay, take us there." The look on his face said that he felt like he didn't have any other option here, though he didn't really want to go.


	25. Chapter 25: Hero

_Chapter 25: Hero_

"Follow me," Henry said, beginning to lead us out of the room we were in and into the hallway of an apartment. The dynamic with him and Sam was pretty much the way it'd been with everyone else we'd come across. Joel and Henry walked ahead, while Sam hung back with Ellie and me. Although I knew we were on the same side, part of me was still a bit apprehensive. I didn't know why; it was just a feeling.

"Sorry about the whole gun thing," Sam said as we walked, making our way down the building.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "As you know, I would've done the same thing."

"Where're you from?" Ellie asked him. I loved the fact that she was so social with people; I still had to learn how to do that.

"All the way from Hartford," Sam answered.

"Really? I heard some bad stuff is going on down there."

"What've you two heard?"

"She's heard," I piped in. "I haven't. The two of us come from different stock, and I never really knew what was going on in other places."

"Not much to tell, really," he said for my benefit. "It's bad, but it's bad everywhere."

On the first floor of the building, there was a little shop. The walls were mostly faded, but I could tell that they were vibrant and colorful. There were all kinds of toys lying around on the shelves. Board games, dolls, even a tricycle. It all seemed relatively untouched, unlike most other places that were all ransacked. I'd never seen anything like it before, and it was like we walked back in time. It felt almost intrusive.

"Wait, everyone be quiet," Henry said, standing by one of the windows that looked out onto the street. "Get away from the windows."

I quickly grabbed Ellie by the hand, and crouched behind a shelf of stuffed animals. Joel and Henry just crouched below the windows themselves, but I couldn't see where Sam was. As we hid, the armored truck that seemed to have been following us all over this fucking city drove by. It didn't stop, thank god. When it was gone, we all felt safe enough to stand again.

"Man I'm sick of that fucking truck," Ellie said.

"You and me both," I answered.

"Man…," Henry said. "That thing has been hounding us ever since we got in this damn–" Something caught his eye by one of the shelves.

"Sam what're you doing?" He asked.

Sam, who was holding an action figure, replied, "Nothing."

"Get rid of it."

"My backpack is practically empty."

"What's the rule about takin' stuff?" Henry thundered over to him, shaking his finger. His voice had grown deep with anger.

"It weighs like nothing," Sam countered.

"The rule! What is it?"

Sam sighed, dropping the action figure on the ground, "we only take what we have to."

"That's right," Henry said. "Now come on."

I couldn't help by notice the sad look on Sam's face after that. It seemed so trivial. Why not let the kid have one tiny bit of happiness in this shithole of a world?

"That was kinda shitty," I said to Ellie as the others filed out into another room in the back of the store.

"Yeah," she said, walking over to the action figure on the floor, and picking it up.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Everyone deserves to be happy, Kara," she said. "I can't deny him that." She then put the action figure in her backpack.

"You're a good woman," I said, proud.

She chuckled, "I don't think I've ever been called a woman before."

"Well, get used to it," I smiled, walking over to her and kissing her.

"Uhh, guys," Sam had reappeared in the doorway where he and the men had walked through a few seconds ago. "We gotta go." He sounded a little embarrassed, and it made Ellie and I just grin at each other and giggle.

"Yeah, c'mon," she said, taking hold of my hand and following Sam through the doorway to where Henry and Joel were waiting.

"How far is this place?" Joel asked once we started moving again.

"We're close," Henry answered. "Real close."

The room led to some kind of loading dock outside, and just beyond that was a group of hunters talking.

"Shit," Joel said, crouching down to become sneakier. "Ellie, watch your back." That was a little interesting to me that he said that, since before he'd just told her to stick close to me. He probably figured that she could handle herself now that she had a gun.

"Of course," she said, and although she wasn't sticking to my hip anymore, she was still relatively close by at all times.

"Sam, you stay with them," Henry instructed.

"Okay," he answered, staying behind Ellie and I like we were his shield, and in many ways, I felt like I was protecting Ellie all over again, but of course, Sam wasn't Ellie, therefore romantic feelings weren't thrown into the mix. Still, there was a desire to protect him, and I saw it in her eyes too.

We crept around outside, trying to avoid confrontation, but Henry was proving to be pretty trigger happy, so we eventually had to give up on stealth. As a shield, Ellie and I made a pretty good pair. Since I was left-handed, she stayed on the right side of me, and as it turned out, we were able to bet better coverage that way. She was didn't look like she was getting sick like she had when she used a gun to save Joel. She was also proving to be a pretty good shot, just like the hunting rifle. Her aim was a bit shaky though, but I wasn't worried. I knew she'd improve with time.

Once all the hunters were dead, and all the bullets picked out of their pockets, Henry lead us up to the roof of a building via a series of car roofs. Then, we walked across a wooden plank with led to the fire escape of another building, this one looking a bit like the apartment buildings that we lived in back in Boston. It kind of made me nostalgic when we went inside, but upon further inspection, it was an office building.

"Through this door," Henry said, walking to one of the

"You sure it's safe, being so close to them?" Joel asked.

"I'm the only one with a key, man."

"And where'd you get that?"

"I killed one of 'em," Henry said, opening the door. "He won't miss it now."

"So how old are you guys?" Sam asked Ellie and me.

"I'm fifteen," I answered.

"Fourteen," she said. "How old are you?"

"Uh, the same," Sam said, trying to be smooth.

"Oh, you're fourteen, huh?" Henry said, busting him.

After slight hesitation, he said, "I'm close."

Henry chucked, "alright."

"I am."

We all walked in passed Henry, and looked around at the abandoned desks and computer monitors that sat in carefully places rows. It all seemed pretty linear, but there was a kitchen area, which I didn't understand the point of.

"Here we are," Henry said, walking back to another door that was marked with CEO on the door, and opening it for us.

"Welcome to my office," he said.

This room seemed a little cozier. There was a desk, with paintings on the wall, and a sofa.

"How long have you guys been holed up in here?" Ellie asked.

"A few days," Sam answered. "We found a bit of food, though." He walked over to the sofa, and took out a large bag of blueberries. Ellie and I stayed with him, while Joel and Henry went over the window to just talk to each other.

Sam gave Ellie and I each a handful of the berries, and the three of us sat on the sofa. Well, it started out that way, but when I sat down, Ellie wormed her way onto my lap.

I giggled, my mouth full of blueberries, "comfy?"

"Very," she replied, grabbing hold of the hand that wasn't holding berries, and draped it around her waist.

Sam just stared for a second, then decided to open his mouth for the first time, "so are you two…a thing?"

"A thing?" I asked. "What does that mean?" I'd never heard that term before.

"You know, uh…" he rubbed the back of his neck, showing how uncomfortable he was. I didn't really understand why.

Ellie was more in tune than I was, "you mean are we a together? Romantically?"

"Yeah," he said, a blush darkening his face. I busted up laughing, almost spitting out some berries in the process. He was the first person I'd ever seen blush at something like that.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Because you're blushing," I answered.

"I am not," he looked away, which caused Ellie to laugh right along with me. "I just don't want to be disrespectful."

"Don't be embarrassed, it's okay," I said. "Ask whatever, I don't mind."

"I don't either," Ellie said.

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. He seemed to feel better after that.

"It's good that you have someone with you that you care about," he added.

"Yeah," I said. "There was someone else, but…" My mind immediately went to Tess. God, I missed her. I wondered how she would've reacted to Ellie and me as a couple. She probably would've just smiled and said something like, "As long as you're happy, I don't give a fuck who you're with." I could hear her saying it clear as day in my mind. I could never forget the sound of her voice.

"She was Kara's aunt," Ellie said, bringing me back to the present.

"What happened to her?" Sam asked.

There was a pause between the three of us, and then Ellie asked me, "do you want me to tell him?" She didn't want to put me in a position where I didn't feel comfortable. I loved how I just knew automatically that's what she was doing. There didn't have to be an exchange of words between us. She was amazing in that way.

"No, it's okay," I answered, squeezing her waist with both of my now free hands, then turning my attention to Sam.

"She was killed," I began. "It was so weird. It was like we could've saved her, but at the same time we couldn't."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"She was infected before she was killed. She was already gone. If she wasn't infected, she would've survived…with us." I expected tears to fill my eyes, but none came. However, there was a distinctive sinking feeling in my stomach as I was talking about it.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately, touching my arm. I smiled at him as thanks.

"If it wasn't for her," I continued. "I would never have known Ellie like I do now. Even though she was infected, she kept going. She sacrificed herself for us in the end. And for that, she's my hero." Saying that she was my hero was what finally made the tears fall. It wasn't very many, but just a few stray ones here and there.

Ellie, hearing my sniffle, hopped off my lap, and sat on the other side of me as Sam, wrapping one of her arms around my shoulders in a kind of side-hug and holding me to her. All the while, I was trying to stop myself from sniffling since the tears weren't bad, but as it always does, the second she hugged me, a fresh batch of tears fell down my face. Even Sam scooted closer to me, and started rubbing my arm.

"Guys, I'm fine," I said, my voice cracking, but a smile crossing my face.

"I told you before, K," Ellie said, making my heart swell. "It's okay to cry. I think the actual allotted amount is around a month."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, laughter replacing tears.

"You know, those unspoken society rules about how long you can do things for. Like, how long you wait to go out on a date after a break-up, how long you wait to call someone back, and all that good shit." She was trying to make me laugh now.

"Ellie," I began, laughing. "None of that stuff is even remotely relevant to anyone on this god forsaken _planet_. Where in the hell did you even come up with that crap?" Even Sam was laughing now.

"I read it in a magazine I found once."

"What was the magazine called?

"Cosmopolitan."

"Jesus Christ, that magazine also tells you how to have an orgasm in 50 different positions!" I cried.

"Uh, everything okay?" Joel's voice called out from the window. I'd obviously said that last comment a little too loudly. The three of us looked up suddenly as if we'd been caught doing something we shouldn't be, but then we just laughed at their puzzled faces.

"Everything's fine," Ellie said to them, a fake grin planted on her face that made us laugh even more. The two men just shook their heads and continued to talk amongst themselves.


	26. Chapter 26: Time To Go

_Chapter 26: Time To Go _

The three of us were still laughing on the couch for several minutes. I'd stopped crying completely, and now I was just trying to get breath between bursts. I leaned against Ellie, clutching her hand in mine the entire time. I still didn't understand much about love and feelings like that, but I did know that my feelings toward her were growing stronger. She was so genuine; so easy to care deeply about that I couldn't help it. I felt like I was falling, yet at the same time it was okay because it also felt like she was there to catch me.

"How the fuck do you know about Cosmopolitan?" Ellie asked me once we'd all calmed down.

"You're not the only one with sticky fingers," I said.

"You guys are a trip," Sam said, shaking his head. I guess he wasn't used to hanging out with people as ridiculous as us.

"This is nothing," I said. "You should've seen her at this restaurant in the hotel we were at a little while ago. She was talking to an imaginary waiter. Named Jeeves."

"So were you!" Ellie accused, pinching my side lightly.

"I rest my case," Sam said.

I started laughing again, and the thought hit me that I was actually having fun. That wasn't the rare part, as I could have fun shooting people any day, but it was the fact that these two people were my own age. I'd always thought of myself as an adult, and I still did, but there was an ease about laughing with them that I didn't ordinarily feel. It was great.

"Hey guys," we all looked up to see Henry coming over to us. "We got a plan."

"What kind of plan?" Sam asked.

"We're going to the radio station tonight."

"Sweet!"

"What radio station?" I asked.

"There's an abandoned military radio station outside the city," Henry explained. "We're supposed to meet any survivors of our group there tomorrow."

"I still doubt there'll be anyone," Sam said, reiterating what he'd said early.

"Like I said, we don't know that," Henry walked back over to Joel. "You guys get some rest, okay?"

Without any further encouragement, Sam curled up on one side of the couch, and fell asleep almost instantly. Ellie began to inch over to the other side, but I stopped her by placing my hand on her arm.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I get to play the mattress this time," I said, a sly smile crossing my lips. She grinned back, and hopped off the couch, allowing me to take her place. Once I got myself situated on my back, Ellie crawled onto the couch, and then onto me, resting her head in the crook of my neck. I wrapped one arm around her waist, allowing the over one to stroke her cheek, and closed my eyes.

"I'm happy I have you," she whispered, her breath warm against my skin.

I squeezed her lightly with the arm that was draped around her, "I'm happy I have you too."

I felt her smile, and she kissed my neck, "good night, K."

"It's not night, Ells," I countered, smiling despite the fact that my eyes were still closed.

"I'm using my imagination, don't ruin it."

"Yes, ma'am," I whispered, tilting my head so that it was pressed against hers and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>I was woken up by a firm hand shaking my shoulder gently. I turned my head away from the top of Ellie's head to look at whoever it was. It was dark by this time, and though I couldn't make out much, I could see that it was Henry leaning down to look at me.<p>

"We gotta go, kiddo," he said quietly, out of respect for the fact that I was just asleep.

"Alright," I said, groggily. He moved from me to Sam on the other side of the couch, and began to wake him up as well.

"Ellie," I cooed, turning towards her, and nuzzling the top of her head to get her to wake up.

"Hmm?" she said softly, nuzzling me back slightly, the desire to sleep thick in her voice.

"We gotta go, honey."

"Okay," she said just as groggily as me. "I'm up." It took her a moment, but she slowly rose from my shoulder, which allowed for me to get up as well. On the other side of the couch, Sam was up and yawning.

"Either of you wanna wake him up?" Henry asked, now standing close by, and crooning his head to glance at Joel, who was asleep on a desk chair. I guess he didn't want to inject himself into the dynamic of our group. It was nice in a way.

"I'll do it," Ellie said, more awake now, scooting off the sofa and walking over to Joel, and shaking him lightly on the shoulder. He woke up instantly, jerking, as if she'd startled him, but I knew better. It was instinct for him to wake up like that by now. There could always be trouble around, and he was always prepared for it. He seemed to calm down when it noticed it was just Ellie.

"He says it's time to go," she said, pointing in Henry's direction. He nodded, and slowly began to stand. I got up off the couch, and walked over to Ellie.

"Now, we're gonna be moving fast, okay?" Henry was giving a pep talk to Sam, and leaning down to look him more in the eye. "So no matter what, you stick to me like glue."

"Like glue," Sam repeated.

"Like glue," Henry emphasized more.

"Got it."

"Good."

The three of us walked over to them, and waited. "Y'all ready?" Henry finally asked us.

"Yeah," Joel answered, though I wasn't sure if he was really wanted to be.

"Okay," Henry said, turning on the flashlight in his backpack. Everyone followed his lead on that one. "Ya'll stay close," he added, and began to leave the office with us in tow.

"You tried this before?" Joel asked him as we went.

"Uh, yeah," he said, unsure of himself. He was obviously lying, and we could all feel it.

"That's comforting," I said to Ellie quietly, who nodded in agreement. Like it was earlier that day, the dynamic with us was slightly different, yet somehow the same. It wasn't that we had to stick close to each other anymore, since she could defend herself now; it was that we wanted to. We were on a level playing field now, and it felt…right. We walked out of the office, and down several flights of stairs until we reached the first floor, which was the lobby of the office building. We shut our flashlights off instantly because there were two hunters here, huddled around a fire they were burning out of a metal trash can, talking amongst themselves.

"Alright, let's try to take them out quietly," Henry said quietly as we all moved stealthily toward them. "I'll follow your lead." He said the last part to Joel, who said back, "okay." Since there were only two of them, Ellie and I thought it was better if we hung back for a moment while the men took care of them. Sam stood by us as we watched. The hunters didn't really have a chance; they were down in minutes. We then moved outside, where there were a few more hunters roaming around a large gate which we had to get through. A few more were on guard at what looked like a tower on top of the gate, and they were armed with a spotlight. Nerves crept up in me at the sight of it, however, they were distracted by the noises of a Clicker approaching, which gave us some time to get up close to the gate without being seen by either hunter or spotlight.

By the gate, there was a generator which had to be powered in order to get it open, which I knew would make a huge amount of noise, so as we powered it, we also were on our guards, shooting at the hunters, who were now aware of us. It was mainly Ellie and I doing this, as Henry, Joel, and Sam were busy opening the gate. As they got it open, we saw the headlights of the hunters' demon truck coming for us.

"Kids, c'mon," Joel called to Ellie and me at the sight of them. Forgetting about the remaining hunters, the two of us hauled ass through the gate they'd opened, and they shoved it close just as the truck got close. We could hear the sound of bullets hitting the gate afterwards, and Henry locked it with a metal plank.

"That's not gonna hold for long," I said as we ran the opposite direction of the gate. There was a huge wall where we were headed, but fortunately, there was also a semi truck that stuck in between the area we were in and the one behind the wall, so we figured that if we could get on top of the truck, we could make it over the wall safely. In addition, we could see the bridge very close by.

The truck was very tall, and we were all kind of wondering how we were going to get up on top of it, when we suddenly found it. On one side of the truck, up toward the top, was a small ladder. Someone could reach it if they were hoisted up. Knowing this, Joel took the position, and hoisted Henry up to the room, telling him, "check it out."

Once on the roof of the truck, Henry made a quick sweep of our surroundings and said, "alright, we're good." Joel hoisted Sam up, then Ellie, all the while, the demon truck was trying to get through the gate. The plank was buying us some time, but time was of the essence, but there was a setback when they hoisted me up. I'd grabbed hold of the ladder to further climb up, but as I did, the ladder came loose, and fell to the ground. Henry and Ellie both took hold of my arms, and pulled me the rest of the way up. This was definitely bad since the hunters were going to bust through the gate at any moment.

"Okay, we gotta get him up," Ellie said as the two of us peered down at Joel.

"Ah…" Henry hesitated, as if in battle with himself about what to do. "I'm sorry. We're leaving."

"What?!" I narrowed my eyes at him, throwing my arms up in the air.

"This is bullshit," Ellie added. It didn't help though, as Henry was already running off the truck with Sam behind him.

"What the fuck, Henry?!" she called after him.

"Ellie, c'mon," I said, taking hold of her hand, and pulling her to the side closest to Joel. We didn't have time to worry about them just now. She understood what I was doing instantly, and together, we hopped down next to Joel, who had a surprised expression on his face to see us.

"We stick together," I said.

At the sound of bullets, we ran to the side, where there was a building with a garage door. We went about our usual way to open them; Joel and I holding the door open while Ellie found something to hold it up. By the time we made it through the door and, and Ellie slammed the garage door shut, the demon truck had already gotten through the gate, and the bullets were inches away from our heads.

"Son of a bitch!" I screamed, suddenly angry at Henry and Sam. "What fucking cowards!"

"Kara, it doesn't matter anymore, okay?" Ellie said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "How the fuck are we gonna get outta here?" Joel didn't say anything, and neither did I. Mainly because I had no idea, and he probably didn't either.

We ran through the room we were in into an area that looked like an old bar. Hunters were already there, waiting for us, so we crouched down low so they couldn't see us. It was so dark, but I could make out several figures. There were too many to just go quietly, so we just went on, guns blazing. My instinct to protect Ellie was strong, and it took a lot for me not to just put myself in front of her. I didn't care what happened to me; she was my top priority. She could handle herself, though, so I was proud of her. Outside the building, the bridge was closer than ever, and as we ran, so appeared the demon truck. We ran faster toward the bridge, dodging bullets all the while. We couldn't fight them with that thing. We could only take our chances on escaping. We made it to the bridge in one piece, but when we got there, a huge section of the bridge was gone. We were at a dead end, and the truck was still behind us.

"Oh fuck!" Ellie said she looked down at the raging water hundreds of feet below.

"How many bullets do you have left?" Joel asked us desperately.

"They're gonna kill us, Joel," I said. We definitely didn't have enough for that thing.

"What other choice to we have?"

"We jump," Ellie suggested.

"No, it's too high, and you can't swim."

"Ellie, don't be an idiot," I added. That was a very bad idea.

Suddenly, the truck appeared, and I figured we only had seconds left.

"No time to argue," Ellie said, running towards the edge, and jumping.

"Ellie!" I screamed, jumping in after her without hesitating.


End file.
